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HOMEOPATHIC CHEMIST, DETROIT, MICH
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LIBRARY
1837
SCIENTIA
VERITAS OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
E-FLURIBUS-UNUM
TUEDO
SI QUAERIS PENINSULAM AMOENAM
CIRCUMSPICE
:
H616.08
Y43
1858
HOMEOPATHY
IN
ACUTE DISEASES.
HOMOEOPATHY
108766
IN
ACUTE DISEASES.
BY
STEPHEN YELDHAM, M.R.C.S.
SURGEON TO THE LONDON HOMEOPATHIC HOSPITAL.
"To know well the irresistible evidence on which the truth is founded, is to believe in
and to believe in it for ever.”
Dr. Thomas Brown.
THIRD
EDITION.
LONDON:
LEATH AND ROSS 5, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD, E. C.
AND
9, VERE STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.
LEAMINGTON: LEATH AND WOOLCOTT
18 LOWER PARADE.
1858.
PRINTED BY J. E. ADLARD,
BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
I
A FEW additions and explanatory notes, and a reduc-
tion in size and price, constitute the main points of
difference between the present and former editions of
this work.
The Author has nothing to retract from the opinions
he originally advanced in these pages, concerning the
relative merits of the old and new systems of medicine.
Time and enlarged experience have confirmed his con-
viction that the Principle of Homœopathy is based on
immutable Truth. The practice of it will, of necessity,
as the science advances, undergo modification and im-
provement. The chief alterations in this respect which
the Author has adopted, consist in the more general
employment, now than formerly, of the lower dilutions
of medicines in the treatment of acute diseases, and in
the relinquishment of the Globule in favour of the Pilule,
on account of the much greater convenience of the
latter.
ဟာ
vi
PREFACE.
In the prescriptions, the figures indicate the attenuation
of the medicines employed; it being always understood,
when not otherwise specified, that one drop, pilule, or
globule, is the proper dose.
It only remains for the Author to acknowledge the
very favorable reception extended to the previous editions
of this volume, and to express an earnest hope that this
will continue, like its predecessors, to induce the thought-
ful reader to examine and adopt the great and beneficent
system of Homœopathy.
7, UPPER MONTAGUE STREET, RUSSELL SQUARE,
LONDON; Sept., 1858.
(
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
FIVE years ago an opponent of Homœopathy from
prejudice, I am now its disciple from conviction. Like
most other members of the profession who had passed the
ardour of youth, and submitted their doctrines to the test
of experience, I had become painfully alive to the in-
efficiency of the prevailing system of medicine; but had
never thought of looking to Homœopathy as affording a
trustworthy substitute. My acquaintance with that system
was most superficial-enough to impart an erroneous im-
pression, but not enough to prevent me from joining in
the laugh against its professors, or restrain me from de-
nouncing it as a chimera, fit only to occupy the mind of
an enthusiast.
Urged by a non-professional friend to look into this new
doctrine, I procured a popular treatise on the subject;
read it; and—unconvinced, as those who trust to reading
without experience, generally are-dismissed it from my
memory. A few months later Homœopathy was again
brought accidentally under my notice. I now felt it my
duty to submit the question to a practical examination.
viii
PREFACE.
The result is before the reader. Truth triumphed alike
over custom, education, and prejudice.
It is the fate of those who change their faith, whether
in religion, politics, or science, to have that change attri-
buted to unworthy motives. For this I am prepared: I
cannot hope to escape the common lot. The foregoing
facts are my answer to any such imputations. Having
followed the old system with sufficient pecuniary success
for ten years, nothing short of conviction would have in-
duced its abandonment.
Escaping, not unwillingly, from personal matters, I turn
to the objects of this volume. Too palpable to be denied,
the superiority of Homœopathy in the treatment of
chronic diseases is the more readily admitted, because
its opponents believe that they possess an indisputable
vantage-ground in the treatment of acute diseases. Re-
ferring to our Homœopathic literature, we find numerous
instances of the efficacy of the system when applied to the
former; but instances of its successful application in the
latter are few and isolated. To supply this deficiency is
the first object of the work.
The cures of Homœopathy are generally referred to
faith, time, and unassisted nature.
To reduce these agents within their proper limits, and
to exhibit the unrivalled power of Homœopathy over acute
diseases, is my second object.
In the first place, not one of the patients, whose cases
are related, was conscious that he was treated Homœo-
pathically. This fact at once overthrows the first objection;
* Chronic diseases-long-standing-slow of progress.
Acute diseases-violent symptoms-rapid course-fatal tendency.
PREFACE.
ix
for, where no object is presented for its exercise, there can
"faith."
be no
Again, in reference to the second supposed agent, while
indispensable in chronic cases, in acute cases time is death.
In the following examples the mitigation of the disease
follows too closely upon the application of the remedy, to
admit of its being referred to "time."
In reference to the third supposed agent, the diseases
selected are, for the most part, of that violent character,
that, if left to themselves, they generally terminate fatally.
In these instances, the members of the old school never
dream of trusting to "unassisted nature," but use the
most powerful means at their disposal. If, in the annexed
cases, in which none of those measures were employed, the
cure was due to the unaided efforts of nature, the sooner
those gentlemen relinquish their treatment, and rely solely
on her power, the better. To be consistent they must
do this, or confess that Homœopathy does cure acute
diseases.
Since, then, it appears that neither of these agents is
admissible, the only alternatives that remain are—Magic,
or Homœopathy.
I have thought it right to offer, in the first instance, a
few general observations on the three principal Allopathic
remedies-Bleeding, Salivation, and Purgatives.
Of the cases collectively it may be stated, that they are
selected from between one and two thousand-of the same
acute character that have occurred in my own practice.
As they are related for the purpose of proving the power,
and not of teaching the practice, of Homœopathy, I have
studied to preserve the identity of each case, without
wearying the reader by unnecessary details.
The introductory remarks which preface each subject,
X
PREFACE.
while they convey to the non-professional reader such an
insight into the different diseases as will enable him to
appreciate the value of the remedies, have likewise afforded
me an opportunity to "hold the mirror up to" Allopathy.
In doing this I have had but one object—that of affording
those whose ranks I have left, the benefit of the light
which Homœopathy throws upon the imperfections of
their system.
LONDON; March 1, 1849.
CONTENTS.
Preface to the Third Edition
Preface to the First Edition
FAGE
V
vii
Bleeding
Salivation
1
12
Purgatives
16
•
Inflammation of the Lungs, and Pleurisy
23
in Robust Persons
30
""
دو
in Delicate Persons
38
ور
in Children
47
دو
وو
Bronchitis.
Inflammation of the Windpipe
Croup
Hooping-cough
Inflammation of the Mouth
53
58
·
•
. 66
71
81
·
of the Throat
83
""
of the Stomach
1 88
""
•
>>
of the Liver, and Jaundice
. 101
of the Bowels
. 109
•
""
Bowel Complaints.-Cholera
Dysentery
Diarrhoea
. 113
. 125
. 130
وو
xii
CONTENTS.
Inflammation of the Kidneys and Bladder
ور
of the Brain
Hydrocephalus, or Water on the Brain
Delirium Tremens .
Apoplexy .
Inflammation of the Eye
Lying-in Fever
Inflammation of the Breast
Convulsions
Erysipelas
Scarlet Fever
Measles
•
Acute Rheumatism
>>
وو
Lumbago
Sciatica
•
•
•
•
•
PAGE
. 136
143
. 147
. 153
160
. 167
. 173
. 183
. 188
•
. 196
. 204
. 214
. 219
. 225
. 228
230
·
Tic-Douloureux
Fever
Spitting of Blood, and Consumption
Injuries
. 237
245
. 256
BLEEDING.
WHEN we remember that the blood is the source whence
every organ of the body derives its nutriment, and that through
its renovating agency the whole frame is sustained, it is diffi-
cult to conceive of any proceeding more irrational than that
which is adopted by the Allopathist* of abstracting large quan-
tities of this fluid at the very moment when the system is
engaged in a desperate struggle with disease, and, consequently,
stands so urgently in need of its support. Sanctioned by not
other consideration than this, the Homoeopathist would feel
himself perfectly justified in avoiding a practice, which, being
so diametrically opposed to the plainest dictates of reason and
common sense, cannot be otherwise than medically erroneous.
But, weighty as such an argument undoubtedly is, he by no
means regards it as forming the chief ground of his opposition
to bloodletting. His objections to that operation are of a
practical character, and refer principally to the following points,
namely, its pernicious influence over the progress of the disease
-and the tedious and precarious state of convalescence, which,
as a natural consequence, it superinduces.†
* Allopathist is a term used to designate the practitioner of Allopathy
-the old or ordinary system of medicine. Homœopathist, in like manner,
is applied to the practitioner of Homœopathy- the new system of medi-
cine.
†The difficulties which surround this remedy may be inferred from
the number of works which have been written on the subject. Dr.
Marshall Hall enumerates the following as the principal morbid effects
of the loss of blood, viz. :—syncope (or fainting), convulsions, delirium,
coma (or insensibility), sudden dissolution, excessive re-action, mania,
amaurosis (blindness), sinking.
1
2
BLEEDING.
The most striking circumstance in connexion with this re-
medy, and to which most, if not all, the other evils attendant
upon it may be traced, is, its weakening effect upon the system.
No one who has watched the progress of an acute disease,
in which bloodletting has been largely employed, can have
failed to be struck with the extreme state of exhaustion, to
which, in a remarkably short space of time, the patient has
been reduced.
not!
To understand this more clearly, let us take the case of a
patient labouring under inflammation of the lungs, or pleura—
diseases in which bleeding is universally recommended, in ordi-
nary practice. We find him complaining of severe pain in the
side, and difficulty of breathing: this is his chief, probably, his
only source of suffering-we find him moving, walking, and
performing any other action not requiring much bodily exer-
tion. Do we hear him complain of much weakness? Certainly
Observe this same patient after the lapse of a few hours
-the change startles you! He is already reduced to the
lowest point of physical depression-he can scarcely speak
above a whisper, move without being supported, or drink
unless the cup is held to his lips. Whence this sudden altera-
tion? Assuredly not from the progress of the disorder.
There is no inflammatory complaint, however severe, which,
even if left to itself, will, in so short a space of time, produce
such powerful effects upon the vital energies. It is to the
remedy, and not to the disease, that we must look for a solution
of the question. And the explanation is but too palpable:-
he has been bled till he fainted: till his cheek was blanched,
his eye dim, and his pulse scarcely perceptible. Re-action
manifesting itself, the operation was repeated, and the system
brought down to its former level. This is done again and
again till it can be borne no longer: then only does the de-
stroyer stay his hand. But though the victory of the lancet
is complete, let not the reader imagine that the struggle is
over: subdued, but not annihilated, the eradication of the
disease is committed to the leech, the cupping-glass, the blister,
BLEEDING.
3
*YO
nauseants, purgatives, and salivation-these, after bleeding has
done its work, even if they be not employed simultaneously
with that operation, are brought to bear upon the exhausted
patient.
Melancholy as this picture is, it is but too faithful a tran-
script of a large class of cases. Without asserting that in
every instance, depletion is carried to such an extent, it is
nevertheless true that, to a greater or less degree, it is adopted
in all cases which are treated in accordance with the written
rule of the old school; and it is alone by producing this state
of depression that bleeding ever does any good. According
to Drs. Crawford and Tweedie, it is "employed with the object
of diminishing the quantity of blood, and at the same time of
abating the force and frequency of the action of the heart and
arteries." To the same extent, therefore, that it robs the
system of its "vital fluid," does it deprive it of its vital
energy. Beyond this, from the very nature of the operation,
it does not possess, and therefore cannot exercise, any remedial
virtue.*
*The following is extracted from a Lecture on the Treatment of
Pleura pneumonia, or Inflammation of the Lungs with Pleurisy, written
by the late Mr. Guthrie, and reported in the 'Medical Times,' of Feb.
19th, 1848-
"In the year 1801, I found myself, not seventeen years of age, in
charge of a regiment of infantry, on the top of the Berry Head, the
outermost point of Torbay. The men were soon attacked by pneu-
monia. I had been taught the practice of physic in London—had fol-
lowed, among other avocations, the late Drs. Rowley and Hooper for
three years, and, in consonance with their views, bled my patients three
and four times in the first forty-eight hours. I first drew sixteen ounces,
then fourteen, then twelve, then abstracted, as the complaint continued,
eight ounces; gave tartar-emetic, so as to keep up nausea; then calomel,
antimony, and opium, and lost my patients. Discomfited by my
failures, I reconsidered every case, and saw that, however systemati-
cally I had acted, the disease had not been arrested in any one of them.
In fact enough had not been done. Recollecting what I had been told
of northern constitutions, and of country practice, I determined that in
4
BLEEDING.
The foregoing remarks have especial reference to those more
favorable cases, which, occurring in persons of robust habit
and sound constitution, run their course rapidly, and notwith-
standing the employment of the violent measures I have de-
scribed, result in the restoration of perfect health.
But it unfortunately happens that the most critical attacks
of inflammation occur, not as is generally supposed, in the
strong and robust, but in those who, possessing constitutions
naturally weak, or from other accidental circumstances ren-
dered so, are least able to withstand the effects of depleting
remedies—delicate females, infants, aged persons, and those
predisposed to consumption.
That the medical man of the old school cannot be placed in
a more perplexing situation than when called upon to treat a
case of this description, I can testify from personal experience.
On the one hand he sees a disease, which if left to itself, will,
in all probability, directly or indirectly, prove destructive to
his patient on the other, he meets with an array of circum-
stances which forbid the application of the only effectual
means he has at his command-he dare not resort to his fa-
vorite remedy-he must sheath his lancet-he is reduced to
the half measures of cupping, leeching, blistering, and saliva-
tion expedients which, whilst they exercise little or no bene-
ficial influence over the progress of the disease, still exert the
baneful property of debilitating the system, and thereby
depriving nature of that power, by the aid of which she might
otherwise successfully struggle against her adversary. Follow-
ing the natural tendency of all these cases, the disease, still
unsubdued, runs on into the chronic form, and if the chest is
:
future, they should die of the bleeding, and not from excess of inflam-
mation. I then took away on each occasion, as much more blood; my
sixteen ounces became from twenty to thirty. It would not do. I
arrested the rapid course of the disease, but did not effectively subdue
it. It was evident that, to succeed, I must place no limit to the ab-
straction of blood in the first instance, but the decided incapability of
bearing its further loss.”
BLEEDING.
5
10
the part affected, consumption but too commonly manifests
itself as the disastrous consequence. It is no novel opinion
that bleeding, and other debilitating remedies, so often reck-
lessly employed in Allopathic practice, may be justly regarded
as among the most powerful predisposing causes of those
numerous chest affections which are generally, though erro-
neously imputed solely to the fickleness of our climate.
There is another class of cases, less numerous, but scarcely
less important, than the foregoing, in which the abstraction of
blood frequently leads to the most unhappy results: that in
which the seat and character of the disorder are involved in
obscurity. Uncertain as to the nature of the disease, but
anxious to alleviate the sufferings of his patient, the physician,
possessing no fixed principle to guide him in the choice of a
remedy, is too apt to select that one which custom has taught him
to consider the best calculated to produce a decided impression
upon the system at large, and consequently upon the disease.
That remedy is bloodletting. Adopted with so much the more
confidence, as these cases, notwithstanding their obscurity, are
for the most part attended by symptoms of a febrile or inflam-
matory type, it is nevertheless certain, as is evinced by the
subsequent development of the disease, that bleeding is power-
less in checking its onward progress. The symptoms which
suggested its employment were but the ushering-in of a long
enduring disease, which time, aided by judicious means on the
part of the physician, could alone overcome. When too late
to be repaired, the fatal error is discovered-the system has
already been robbed of its life-blood-the patient's energies are
undermined—disarmed and rendered totally unequal to the
contest, he finds himself doomed to strive with an enemy whose
strength increases as his own diminishes. The result need
scarcely be told-he sinks in the struggle.
The foregoing remarks, referring to the use of bleeding in
adult patients, apply with equal force to that remedy, as it is
employed in the diseases of childhood. Though in the former,
its operation, as we have seen, is so objectionable, still it is,
6
BLEEDING.
..
generally speaking, unattended with immediate danger to the
life of the patient, who, being older and stronger, is better able
to withstand its effects. With children the case is different. It
is well known that they are peculiarly wanting in that power
which is necessary to sustain the loss of blood; nor do they,
like adults, furnish those tests which enable us to judge of the
extent to which it may be carried. Fainting, as a guide, is no
longer available—the pulse is no safe index-the blood, more-
over, being usually abstracted by leeches, the quantity lost is
necessarily uncertain. The result, as might be anticipated, is
often most lamentable. I retain a vivid recollection of having
in one instance seen a fine and beautiful child, labouring under
inflammation of the lungs, rapidly sink and die in the course
of two or three hours, solely from the loss of blood, sustained
by the application of four leeches. In other cases, although
the little patients survive the immediate effects of the loss,
they become so exhausted by repeated leechings, and remain
for so long a time in a weak and languid condition, with pallid
skin, flabby flesh, and wasted forms, as to be rather dead than
alive. These, and many other reasons, which it is unnecessary
to enumerate, render it especially desirable to avoid the ab-
straction of blood in treating the diseases of children. Allo-
pathy shows it to be hazardous and injurious: Homœopathy
proves it to be unnecessary.
Remarking upon the diseases of children, it may not be
inapposite to introduce a few words upon the practice of apply-
ing blisters in these cases. There can hardly be a practitioner
of any experience who has not witnessed their fatal effects.
They are generally resorted to at an advanced stage of the
complaint, when the patient has been reduced by depletion.
The system, not possessing the requisite power to restore the
blistered surface, the sore becomes converted into an eating
nlcer, which, resisting every means for its cure, wears out the
sufferer by the constant irritation which it superinduces.
Several melancholy instances of this kind came under my own
observation in the earlier part of my professional life, and
BLEEDING.
7
many years before I abandoned the Allopathic practice, I had
entirely relinquished the employment of blisters in the class
of cases now under consideration, and had resorted to the
mustard poultice as a safe, convenient, and effectual substitute.
As bleeding, in its different forms, during the progress of
disease, induces the deplorable state of things which has been
described in the foregoing remarks, so does it, as a necessary
consequence, entail upon those upon whom it has been prac-
tised, a correspondingly painful and precarious convalescence.
Daily experience has brought this matter to be so thoroughly
understood by the public as well as the profession, that it is
scarcely requisite to do more than simply refer to it, as forming
a strong point of objection against the depleting system of
treatment. Let the reader recall to his mind the wretched
condition of a man who has been subjected to this practice for
an attack of acute disease. What a shattered frame does he
present! What a long and weary time he is in crawling back
to his former self! Reduced to the helplessness of childhood,
he is forced to be nursed and fed like a child. Undermined in
constitution, and stripped of all power to resist, either a re-
currence of his former complaint, or the invasion of new
diseases, how often do we find him the subject of a relapse, or
a prey to dropsy, diarrhoea, chest disease, or some other ex-
hausting malady; like a citadel from which the garrison has
been withdrawn, he falls an easy prey to the first foe by which
he is assailed.
In the next place, the Homoeopathist maintains that the
abstraction of blood is unnecessary in the treatment of any
disorder whatever.
This is proved by experience, and so far from shrinking from
such a test, Homoeopathy courts it: it is her stronghold. She
does not ask the world to listen to an empty theory: she
invites it to examine her practice, and judge her by its fruits.
If Homœopathy could boast of no greater amount of success
than Allopathy can produce, she would long ere this have been
compelled to quit the field in favour of her ancient rival,
OC
BLEEDING.
notwithstanding the superior attractions of her painless and
tasteless remedies. But, it is alone through the irresistible
force of her successful practice that Homœopathy has been
enabled not only to withstand, but to triumph over the flood
of opposition, which, from her birth up to the present moment,
has been incessantly, but fruitlessly, endeavouring to effect her
destruction.
The wonderful power which Aconite exerts over the circula-
tion, and the specific action of other remedies, enable the
Homœopathist to overcome the most violent and fatal disorders,
with a rapidity and certainty, infinitely surpassing anything
that can be accomplished by bleeding and its auxiliaries. This
is no unsupported assertion: on the contrary it is believed,
that the large number of cases distributed through this volume,
and depicting disease in its most destructive forms, will alone
be sufficient to convince the candid and unprejudiced reader of
its truth; and, when it is remembered that these cases con-
stitute but the fractional part of one man's experience, and that
hundreds of other practitioners, during the last fifty years,
have pursued the same system of treatment with equal, if not
greater, success, it is not easy to imagine that even the most
incredulous mind can resist the accumulated evidence which
such a consideration affords.*
Let us now take a hasty glance at the other side of the
picture. It will at once appear evident, that as the patient,
in the hands of the Homœopathist, loses not one drop of
blood; as he is neither harassed by blisters, depressed by nau-
seants, nor exhausted by purgatives, so does he, as a natural
C
* Those who may be desirous of statistical evidence on this point
will find some interesting tables, too long to be introduced here, of the
comparative results of the two modes of treatment in a variety of dis-
eases, in the Appendix to A Concise View of Homœopathy,' published
by the Dublin Homœopathic Society; in 'The Introduction to the
Study of Homoeopathy;' in Dr. Henderson's recent work, Homœo-
pathy fairly Explained,' and in Two Lectures on the Moral Evidences
of Homœopathy,' by the Author of this volume, &c. &c.
6
BLEEDING.
9
consequence, escape that prostration of strength to which he
would be reduced by the employment of those measures.
And, as the course of the disorder is not observed by the arti-
ficial production of debility, recovery from its effects is propor-
tionately rapid and certain. Convalescence, or the intermediate
state between disease and health, (a period in Allopathic prac-
tice, so replete with danger to the patient and anxiety to his
friends) is here almost entirely wanting. A decided impression
once made upon the disease-the first few hours of active
suffering past, and the patient's danger is over-he has nothing
further to apprehend.
Nor need he dread any of those evil consequences which
mar the benefit of Allopathic treatment. There is little or no
fear of a relapse-no chance of dropsy, and the host of other
ailments which follow in the wake of the lancet. There is,
moreover, no call for the interminable nursing and codling,
and bitter tonics, which are required by the exhausted patient
of the old-school practitioner.
Homœopathy demands of her subjects simply to remain in
bed and swallow a few doses of tasteless medicine—they sustain
no loss beyond the temporary loss of food-they emerge from
illness nearly the same persons they were when it overtook
them--they have no empty veins to replenish-no emaciated
forms to remould-no undermined energies to renovate: all
those restorative means therefore which have been referred to
above, though they may be indulged in to please the taste
of the convalescent, are rarely necessary in Homœopathic
practice.
Having thus passed in rapid review, and placed side by side,
the mischief which arises from bleeding in Allopathic, and the
advantages of its omission in Homœopathic, practice, I am
mistaken if the reader does not experience both astonishment
and regret, that an operation which is confessedly on all hands
calculated to produce so much harm, should so long have re-
tained its place at the head of our remedial agents-I say
"confessedly on all hands," because, universal as its adoption
1 S
10
BLEEDING.
has been in every age and country, there is perhaps no point
in the whole circle of medicine, on which there prevails so
complete a unanimity of opinion as this, namely, that bleeding,
whenever, and under whatever circumstances, employed, is at
best an evil, which ought, if possible, to be avoided. Every
medical man, who weighs his thoughts before they assume the
shape of actions, must feel convinced whenever he opens a
vein, that he commits an evil, second only to that of the
disease for the removal of which he has been led to its
perpetration.
With such a feeling as this pervading the professional mind,
it cannot be a matter of surprise that there should have sprung
up in the present day, a wide spreading disbelief in the infalli-
bility of this remedy. The blind faith with which it was
formerly worshipped, is fast vanishing. The more scientific
and thoughtful members of the profession have long learned
not only to question its efficacy in many diseases in which its
aid used to be deemed all but indispensable, but have given
life to their opinions, by banishing it, as far as possible, from
their practice.
It is gratifying to be able to place at the head of this
category, the name of one who has left behind him a European
celebrity—Robert Liston! The following extract is from Dr.
Quin's memoir of his friend, published in the 'British Journal
of Homœopathy,' in January, 1848:-" Mr. Liston was most
struck with the action of Aconite in subduing inflammation,
and reducing vascular excitement; and he often expressed his
regret to me, that the power of Aconite to abate vascular
overaction, and supersede the necessity for abstraction of blood
in many diseases, was not known to him earlier; because he
was convinced that it would have prolonged the life of his
father, whose death had been hastened, in his opinion, by ill-
judged copious venesections."
Though it is beyond a doubt, that much of this mistrust of
bloodletting, as in the instance just quoted, is due to the rapid
promulgation of Homoeopathic doctrines, much is also to be
1
ì
BLEEDING.
11
attributed to the enlightened spirit of the age. The days are
gone by for rendering homage to any custom which can prefer
no stronger claim to our allegiance than that which is founded
upon its antiquity. Faith, in science, has been superseded
by reason and experience; and that system, whether of medi-
cine or any other science, which will not bear the application
of such tests, stands but little chance of maintaining its hold
upon the respect of the present generation. There can there-
fore remain no doubt, in any reflective mind, as to the ultimate
fate of bleeding. Having no foundation either in reason or
sound experience, it will assuredly, ere long, be superseded.
by the milder, surer, and more rational, powers with which we
are supplied by Homœopathy.
SALIVATION.
Ir may be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that there
is no substance in the whole course of remedial agents, whose
abuse has entailed so much suffering upon the human race, as
Mercury. One of the most powerful drugs, either for good or
evil, with which we are acquainted, there is no other which is
used so thoughtlessly and indiscriminately. The medical man
seeks its aid in almost every case of disease, the druggist
shrouds it in his nostrums, and non-professional persons pre-
scribe it, with all the confidence of conceited ignorance, when-
ever they undertake to doctor themselves, their children, or
their friends.
Administered in rather large doses in the form of calomel,
its action is simply purgative. This is perhaps its most merci-
ful effect; for, notwithstanding that it generally produces
violent irritation and pain in the bowels during its operation,
the system is at all events speedily relieved of the noxious
substance, and so escapes the more lasting misery which results
from its continued employment in small and repeated doses.
In the latter case the preparations known as blue-pill and grey-
powder are most commonly employed, and are exhibited for
the purpose of exciting the disease called Salivation.
By this term is understood the impregnation of the system
with mercury to such an extent, as to cause soreness of the
mouth, and to stimulate the glandular apparatus connected
therewith to a preternatural discharge of saliva. Those who
have undergone salivation themselves, or have witnessed it in
others, will retain too vivid a recollection of the suffering it
has induced, to render necessary an elaborate description
of its effects, or of the painful symptoms accompanying its
progress.
SALIVATION.
13
Nevertheless, for the information of those persons who are
unacquainted with the disease, the following account is sub-
joined, as recorded by Dr. Pereira. "The first symptoms of
this affection, are slight tenderness and tumefaction of the
gums, which acquire a pale rose colour, except at the edges
surrounding the teeth, where they are deep red; gradually the
mouth becomes exceedingly sore, and the tongue much swollen,
a coppery taste is perceived, and the breath acquires a remark-
able fœtidity. The salivary glands soon become tender and
swollen; the saliva and mucus of the mouth flow abundantly,
sometimes to the extent of several pints in twenty-four hours.
During this state the fat is rapidly absorbed, and the patient
becomes exceedingly emaciated." We are then presented, by
the same authority, with a list of the ill effects which often
arise from salivation, viz. :-mercurial fever-excessive saliva-
tion, attended with ulceration and sloughing of the gums;
falling out of the teeth; ulceration and sloughing of the
fauces; mercurial purging; profuse sweating; skin diseases;
inflammation of the eyes; enlargement of the inguinal, axil-
lary, and mesenteric glands; ulceration of the mouth and
throat; various symptoms indicating a disordered state of the
nervous system, such as shaking palsy, cachexia or wasting
diseases, &c.
Such is salivation, one of the most favorite and universal
remedies of the Allopathist. The above description is appli-
cable more particularly to the symptoms manifested when
mercury is administered in acute diseases. It is also frequently
employed as a last resource-a kind of hit or miss remedy-in
obstinate diseases of long standing and doubtful character,
where the physician is at a loss what other course of treatment
to pursue. As administered in such cases, it is, from a variety
of circumstances, an easily manageable and comparatively
harmless medicine. Given in small doses and at long intervals,
to individuals who have not been exhausted by bleeding, the
system is less easily brought under the influence of the metal;
and, when that influence does exert itself, its action is so
14
SALIVATION.
gentle and gradual, that it may be easily regulated, and checked
at pleasure.
In acute diseases the case is very different. Intended here
to affect the system as speedily as possible, the medicine is
exhibited in larger doses, frequently repeated, and is often
applied internally and externally at the same moment. Gene-
rally following immediately upon free and copious bleeding
from the arm, its absorption is thereby rendered very rapid,
and its effects require but a few hours for their development.
But, unfortunately, in these cases the physician has lost that
controlling power, by the exercise of which he is able to pro-
tect his patient from its overaction in chronic diseases. The
system being exhausted by bloodletting, and absorption ren-
dered proportionally active, it is impossible to predict how far
the local and constitutional symptoms of salivation may extend.
A five-grain blue-pill, which, administered to a person not
previously reduced in strength, would excite no sensible result,
when given to a patient who has been bled to relieve an acute
disease, may produce any one, or more of the "ill effects"
mentioned in the passage quoted from Dr. Pereira.
These examples of violent salivation are of such frequent
occurrence, that there can scarcely be a member of the faculty
who has not witnessed them in his own practice. So long as
mercury continues to be used in Allopathic doses, so long will
similar cases arise in its condemnation, and medical men be
doomed to the pain of beholding their patients suffer infinitely
more from the remedy than from the disease which it was
given to eradicate. Language is almost inadequate to describe
the full extent of suffering which it inflicts upon its unhappy
recipient intense aching in the head and face, swelling of the
neck and cheeks, loosening of the teeth, inflammation and
ulceration of the tongue, inside of the cheeks and gums, ren-
dering it impossible to swallow anything but liquids: the fever,
diarrhoea, melting sweats, and general prostration of strength
which accompany it; these are among its most striking and
constant attendants. In spite of their fearful character the
SALIVATION.
15
Allopathist constantly employs it: his erroneous system not
having taught him how he may better cure those acute diseases,
for the relief of which it is administered.
Let it not be supposed that we would indiscriminately pro-
hibit the use of mercury. On the contrary, we hold it to be
one of the most interesting and useful remedies furnished to
us by the mineral kingdom. It is against its administration
in such quantities as to produce the lamentably injurious effects.
just enumerated, that we enter our uncompromising protest.
We do so unhesitatingly, because Homoeopathic practice
proves beyond the power of contradiction, that there is no
disease, for which mercury is the proper remedy, which it will
more speedily and safely, in small doses. The
Homœopathist gives it as he gives all other medicines, not as
a universal and quack remedy, eradicating one disease by
superinducing another, but acting in strict conformity with the
Homœopathic law. And he administers it, moreover, in such
minute doses as to render it impossible for it ever to produce
the constitutional disturbance, known by the name of salivation.
not cure
It is to Hahnemann we are indebted for the knowledge
how to secure all the good, without incurring any of the evils,
arising from the use of mercury. Had he left behind him no
greater claim upon our gratitude, this alone ought to ensure
to his memory our lasting veneration.
PURGATIVES.
THERE is nothing in Homoeopathy which excites more
astonishment than the announcement, that in its practice, it
entirely discards the use of Purgatives. Nor can we be sur-
prised at this, when we consider, that from our earliest days
we are taught to regard aperient medicines, as almost as
essential to our well-being, as food and raiment. The nurse
welcomes the new-born infant with a dose of castor oil, as a
foretaste of what it will have to endure in its course through
life, and till its latest breath it lives up to its destiny. On
this point, increase of years rarely brings increase of wisdom
for it cannot be denied, that the older people get, the more
confirmed they become in their predilection for family and
antibilious pills, and other mysterious compounds. The ex-
tent to which the population of this country indulge in the
pernicious habit of dosing themselves with these domestic
medicines, would appear incredible, was it not too notorious
to be disputed. For the continuance of this mischievous
custom, Government, and the Members of the Medical Pro-
fession are alike responsible: the former, in the encourage-
ment it holds out to the nostrum vendor; the latter, in their
indiscriminate prescription of aperient medicines.
A very
little consideration will convince us that such a practice is
both unphilosophical and injurious.
In the first place, every one will acknowledge that the body
is not only marvellously perfect as a whole, but that every
separate organ is adapted in an equally admirable manner to
the performance of its peculiar function: that the eye could
not be more beautifully constructed for vision, the limbs for
motion and apprehension, the heart for propelling the blood,
and the lungs for respiration. Faithful and unfailing in the
PURGATIVES.
17
}
discharge of their duty, we never dream of medicating these
organs, unless called upon to do so by the presence of disease.
This being admitted in words, why is it so perpetually contra-
dicted in practice? If every portion of the frame be furnished
with innate power proportioned to the labour it has to per-
form, what plea can be urged in excuse for the incessant
prompting to which the bowels are subjected? Did HE, by
whose fiat man was called into existence, leave these organs
so imperfectly endowed, that they have ever since remained
inadequate to the discharge of their functions, except when
assisted by human instrumentality? Unless we have been
sent into this breathing world, in this respect
scarce half
made up," on what ground can we justify our unending in-
terference? This suggestion will serve to expose the ab-
surdity of the habit in which many persons, in the enjoyment
of perfect health, indulge, of taking aperient medicines, simply
because the action of their bowels is not sufficiently frequent
and systematic to suit their capricious notions: forgetting
that there is no prescribed standard to regulate this function;
that nature is the best judge of her own necessities; and that
individuals differ almost as much in this respect, as in their
physical form and constitutional temperament.
tr
In the next place, without dwelling upon a subject, which,
until the problem of LIFE is solved, will in all probability re-
main a mystery, viz., the intimate and essential nature of
disease, we may yet venture to state broadly, that it consists,
as far as we can understand the matter, in a disordered action
of the part or parts most prominently affected. This being
the case, it follows, that for the rectification of that disordered
action, a remedy should be employed, which will exert a direct
influence over the seat of disease. The simple action of an
aperient is to stimulate the intestinal canal. Yet this is the
agent which the Allopathist employs, when the object sought
is to rectify the defective performance of its duty, on the part
of some other, and probably distant organ of the body. Has
a patient inflammation of the eye? His physician purges the
18
PURGATIVES.
bowels! Has he inflammation of the toe? The same thing
is done! Is there disease of the lungs? Still he purges!
Fever ? Still aperients! Gout-rheumatism - headache ?
whatever be the disorder, the remedy is everlastingly the same:
like the laws of the Medes and Persians, it alters not. This
mode of treatment would lead us to conclude, that every dis-
ease has a material existence in the abdomen, and may be
expelled by the physical force of aperient medicines! It is
difficult to conceive how expulsion of the natural contents of the
bowels, can influence the progress of disease in a different part
of the body, any more than would the expulsion of the con-
tents of any other organ-the blood from the heart or the
air from the lungs. As well might we cause a patient to run
about his room to accelerate his breathing, or apply an air-
pump to his mouth to exhaust his lungs, as compel him to
swallow an aperient to increase the action, and evacuate the
contents, of his bowels.
But one remove from the universal remedy of the quack,
there is nothing else in the whole sphere of "old physic "
which partakes so thoroughly of the empirical, as this illimit-
able indulgence in the use of purgatives. It places in a forci-
ble light the pitiable poverty of a system, whose loftiest
flights into the regions of philosophical deduction, can reach
no higher than the barren conception of a dose of aperient
medicine, as a panacea for "the thousand ills that human flesh
is heir to."
But purgatives are not more opposed to the dictates of rea-
son, than to the well-being of the patient. Their effects upon
the system are positively injurious, and manifest themselves in
two ways: first, upon the intestinal organs themselves; and
secondly, upon the constitution generally.
If (to use a familiar illustration), we introduce any irritating
substance, such as sand or dust, into the eye, its natural
secretion is instantly augmented: a copious flow of tears
ensues—in other words, it is purged. The part at the same
time becomes red, painful, and inflamed. If this be done
PURGATIVES.
19
once only, the injury, under the restorative power of nature,
in all likelihood, speedily subsides. But let the operation be
repeated again and again, for days, weeks, years! What would
then be the result? The organ, for all its natural purposes,
would be destroyed. Losing its functional powers, it would
become a source of constant trouble and suffering to its un-
happy owner!
In this we have, as nearly as possible, a parallel to the action
and effect of purgatives upon the intestinal canal: with this
difference—that in the one case the mischief may be seen and
appreciated in the other, though not less certain and endur-
ing, it is hid from our sight, and therefore is less thought of,
and less understood.
The office which the eye fulfils in the animal economy needs
no description. The function of the bowels, though perhaps
as well understood, is not sufficiently considered. It should
be borne in mind, that those organs are intended by nature to
receive only such articles of diet, as, being perfectly suited to
their organization, are capable of undergoing digestion, and of
being converted into blood. Remembering this, the absolute
necessity for maintaining them in the highest possible state of
health, and studiously avoiding the introduction of everything
which, by disturbing them, might interrupt their function,
becomes at once apparent. As delicate in their structure as
the eye, they are as incapable as that organ, of bearing with
impunity the contact of uncongenial substances. The admis-
sion into them of harsh matters, such as irritating drugs, must
as effectually interrupt the process of digestion and nutrition,
as would sand or dust, used in the place of oil, disturb the
proper action of a delicate piece of mechanism.
How does the Allopathist regard this self-evident truth in
his practice? No sooner (as I have before stated) does a
patient come under his care, complaining of illness, it matters
not of what kind, or of what part of the body-what may
have been its cause-what the age or sex of the sufferer, than
he at once, almost as a rule, prescribes a dose of aperient
20
PURGATIVES.
medicine, the unavoidable effect of which is to irritate and
inflame the whole extent of the alimentary canal! Originating,
in acute diseases, another source of disturbance to be super-
added to that already in operation, this practice, in these cases
is sufficiently unjustifiable; but it is in chronic diseases, or
those of long standing and slow progress, that the pernicious
influence of aperients is most vividly apparent. In the former
case, their operation, being repeated perhaps but a few times
in a comparatively short period, the evil effects resulting from
their action more speedily subside. In the latter, forming as
they do, nine times in ten, the principal part of a course of
treatment extending over a considerable space of time, their
consequences are more lamentable. Digestion is interrupted
or entirely suspended; the patient, being imperfectly nourished,
becomes weak and emaciated; exhausting diarrhoea supervenes,
or the bowels, losing their natural power, become obstinately
constipated, and find no relief but in a constant repetition of
the destructive dose. Chronic dyspepsia, with its thousand
concomitants-headaches, palpitation, piles, fistula, flatulence,
&c., fill up the catalogue of ailments which render life a burden,
even if they do not curtail its duration.
Disregarding, for the moment, the foregoing objections to
the use of purgatives, there are, on the other hand, several
powerful reasons, why the bowels should not be disturbed
during sickness.
In the first place, the patient, in severe cases, being com-
pelled to keep his bed, this alone, with the attendant loss of
exercise, has a natural tendency to check the action of the
bowels.
In the second place, their principal office consisting in pass-
ing on the food, and the patient taking none, clearly they have
no duty to perform.
In the third place, the disease weakening the whole system
the bowels partake of the general debility. In common with
the legs, the arms, the stomach, the brain and every other
organ, they become deprived of that power, by the possession
PURGATIVES.
21
of which in a state of health, they are enabled to discharge
their proper function. Why are they, more than the other
organs, to be impelled to the performance of a duty, to which,
at the time, they are totally unequal?
Again, under the process of disease, the whole vital power
is devoted to the struggle which is going on in the affected
part. The attention of the system is, as it were, drawn off as
well from the bowels, as from every other organ, not imme-
diately engaged in the contest. On this account, also, they
remain quiescent; and any interference with that quietude, by
diverting the vital energy, weakens that force which nature
requires to be undivided, to enable her to conduct her combat
with disease to a successful issue-an additional reason why
purgatives should be avoided.
Sufficiently convincing as these arguments might be consi-
dered, in reply to any objections against the Homœopathic
plan, so accustomed have the public become to the employment
of purgatives, that the question constantly arises, "If the
bowels be constipated, what must we do ?" The answer is
simple―LET THEM ALONE.
Constipation is an effect, not a disease. If it were, there
might be some show of reason in the use of aperients. But,
being merely a temporary loss of power, we can no more restore
that power by forcing the action of the bowels, than we can
impart strength to a weakened leg by compelling it to walk.
In the latter instance we should instinctively rest the part,
until, by the removal of the disease, motion might be resumed.
The same reasoning applies with equal force to the removal of
constipation. The exercise of a little patience, and the employ-
ment of judicious means for the eradication of that disordered
condition on which the inaction depends, will as infallibly
restore the bowels to their duty, as in every other instance the
effect must cease when the cause is removed.
In acute diseases this rule may be acted on with unlimited
confidence. The resumption on the part of the patient of his
accustomed food and exercise, by invigorating the frame gene-
22
PURGATIVES.
•
rally, imparts also to the bowels that energy which enables
them, in conjunction with the other organs, to resume the
exercise of their proper function. It is in diseases of long
standing, particularly those affecting the digestive organs-
dyspepsia, &c.-which so often owe their origin to the abuse
of aperient medicines, and are always aggravated by their action
that the Homoeopathist experiences the greatest difficulty in
carrying out his principles. He is, however, sure to find his
reward for strictly adhering to them, in the rapidity and cer-
tainty with which he eradicates diseases that have baffled all
the ordinary method of treatment.
If, however, as sometimes happens, from the sudden with-
drawal of a long accustomed stimulant, the bowels become
obstinately confined; or, to satisfy the mind of the patient, it
be desirable to prompt them, the safest, as well as the most
rational mode of accomplishing that object, is by the employ-
ment of an enema. Unirritating in its operation, and acting
on the lower portion of the bowel, where the accumulation
naturally takes place, this, in all cases where assistance is
required, is an unobjectionable remedy. The blandest fluids,
such as water, gruel, and the like, will generally be found to
answer the desired end, without the admixture of castor-oil or
other irritants. Administered in this form, the injection may
be repeated at pleasure, without inflicting any injury upon the
inside-it is, in short, the only legitimate aperient.
I am aware that in the foregoing remarks I have run counter
to one of the most cherished dogmas of the old school of medi-
cine-a dogma sanctioned by age, and perpetuated by universal
adoption. So far from these circumstances either modifying
my opinion, or qualifying my opposition, they do but make me
the more earnest in my desire to see abolished a practice
which both reason and experience compel me to regard as
radically erroneous; and, though it may be long ere its aban-
donment becomes general, that it will ultimately yield to the
spread of Homœopathic principles, I am as well satisfied, as that
darkness will ever recede before light, and error before truth.
1
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, AND
PLEURISY.
CONSTITUTING by far the most numerous and fatal class of
diseases which affect the human frame, and calling into action,
in a pre-eminent degree, the heroic or active mode of treatment
adopted by the Allopathist, the affections of the respiratory
organs naturally demand our first attention.
Bearing in mind that these affections include inflammation
of the lungs and pleura, bronchitis, croup, asthma, hooping-
cough, and consumption, we shall be at no loss to account for
their frequency; and the same list at once recalls to our mind
the familiar names of the most dangerous and deadly diseases
with which we are acquainted. It is calculated that at least
one fourth of all the deaths that occur in this country, are
caused by consumption; and when to these we add the scarcely
less numerous victims of inflammation of the lungs, and pleura,
together with the quota contributed by the other complaints
just named, it will not be overstepping the bounds of truth to
say, that, at the lowest computation, one half of the diseases
which swell our bills of mortality, have their seat in the organs
of respiration.
Next to consumption, (to which we shall afterwards refer
more fully,) by far the most formidable in the list, is inflam-
mation of the lungs. Beyond comparison the most frequent
cause of death amongst children, in adults also, though not
often immediately fatal, it but too commonly leads to that
result, by calling into action a previously existing consump-
tive tendency. It is a well ascertained fact that this con-
sumptive tendency, or tuberculous diathesis, as it is technically
termed, will remain quiescent in individuals for many years,
and in families from generation to generation, until, on the
application of some deleterious influence, the latent germs of
24
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS,
the disease are stimulated into active development, That
influence-however much the fact may be questioned by some
high authorities—there can I think be no doubt, is, in many
instances, an attack, more or less acute, of inflammation of the
lungs, bronchi, or pleura. It has not, therefore, been without
good cause that the public have learned to regard this disease
with feelings of the deepest apprehension. It is, however, a
lamentable fact, that this anxiety is, in justice, attributable,
not more, if so much, to any inherent danger in the disease,
as to the inefficient means commonly adopted for its suppres
sion. Startling as this assertion may appear, it is made,
neither in forgetfulness of its importance, nor without its
accuracy having been thoroughly established on the most
careful and extensive observation. Personal experience in
some hundreds of cases, in which not one drop of blood was
drawn, nor any other of the usual remedies employed, but
which were treated in accordance with Homoeopathic rules,
has convinced me, beyond the possibility of error, that when
so treated, there is scarcely any disease which is more
thoroughly within control, or which need less excite the fears
of the patient, or the anxiety of the physician, than inflam-
mation of the lungs.
We will now pass rapidly in review the two modes of
treatment to which allusion has been made: that pursued
by the Allopathist, and Homœopathist, respectively.
Dr. C. J. B. Williams, in an article on inflammation of the
lungs, in the 'Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine,' quotes,
and subscribes to this opinion of Dr. Cullen, "that a first
bleeding, however large, will seldom prove a cure of the
disease, and as the pain and other symptoms recur, the
measure must be repeated even in the course of the same
day, to as full an extent as before, and although the greatest
efficacy is in the first three days, this recurrence will make a
repetition of the measure proper at any period of the disease,
within the first fortnight. At the first bleeding a quantity
varying from sixteen to forty ounces may be taken."
AND PLEURISY.
25
Mr. Guthrie, in the lecture from which I have already
quoted, says: "In young people, the bleeding should be
repeated until the desired object is effected; and the quan-
tity required to be drawn in inflammations, particularly after
injuries, is often very great. It is almost a question in some
cases, whether the patient shall be allowed to die of the
disease, or from loss of blood." Bouillaud, whose authority is
great in France, gives the following as an example of his
mode of proceeding in a moderately severe case: "1st day.
Morning sixteen ounces, evening twelve ounces. In the
interval twelve ounces to be drawn locally by cupping or
leeches. 2nd day. Venesection to sixteen ounces; local
bleeding, if pain continues, by leeches or cupping. 3rd day.
If disease permit, another bleeding, although it is usually cut
short on this day. 4th day. If the disease should attain to
the second stage, another venesection may be resorted to, but
it is in general best to abstain from it, and apply a blister.
As a general rule, however, the abstraction of blood should
not be refrained from until the febrile action is removed or
nearly so, until the dyspnoea and the pain have nearly dis-
appeared; and this rule admits of very few exceptions.
On
the whole, four or five pounds of blood may be drawn in the
case supposed above."
So much for bleeding.
As to Mercury-Dr. Copeland says, "mercury with opium,
in large doses has been much employed, both with and after
bloodletting, and calomel in doses of from five to twenty
grains is the preparation which is most to be preferred. The
doses should be persisted in until the gums are affected, or
the disease is arrested." Dr. Williams-" Calomel is the
form of Mercury, which is generally preferred in acute inflam-
mation. The first doses are intended to act as purgatives,
after which it is to be combined with opium-and with respect
to the quantity and frequency of these, some difference must
be observed according to the form of the disease. Large doses
of calomel of from six to twelve grains, or even more, may
be
2
26
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
given three or four times a day, with better effect than smaller
doses more frequently repeated. The remedy, in whichever of
these various ways it is given, should be continued until it
either produces a decided impression on the disease, or affects
the gums."
Tartar Emetic is another remedy very much recommended
in books, but not so generally employed as the foregoing:
chiefly, perhaps, on account of the distressing feelings which
attend its action. The first two or three doses generally
produce the most distressing vomiting. This effect ceasing,
the medicine is continued and regulated (at least as far as
it can be), so as to keep the patient in a state of constant
nausea, or inclination to vomit. Though decidedly one of the
best Allopathic remedies in the cases of adults, Dr. Copeland
says, "it is by no means a safe remedy for young children or
infants, for I have seen large doses of it, particularly when too
often repeated or long continued, produce most dangerous and
even fatal collapse."
These three remedies, viz.-bleeding, mercury, and tar-
tar emetic, are the mainstays of Allopathy in this disease.
There are others which are enlisted as adjuvants or helps :
blisters, opiates, purgatives, expectorants, &c., which,
though they harass the patient and mystify the disease,
yet play so unimportant a part in the general plan of
treatment, as to justify us in dismissing them with this pass-
ing notice.
Such is the programme which Allopathy presents for curing
inflammation of the lungs-bleeding to the extent of a few
pounds; antimony ad nauseam; salivation; blisters; purga-
tion. This is the system which, with some modifications,
has existed from age to age up to the present moment. It
is this system which Homoeopathy undertakes boldly, un-
hesitatingly, and without reservation, to dispense with and
supersede.
In dealing with this division of our subject, we will com
mence by recounting what Homœopathy omits.
AND PLEURISY.
27
In the first place, she never draws blood. I have shown at
some length, in a previous chapter, that this remedy is always
unnecessary, and generally injurious. I will therefore not
dilate upon it here.
In the second place, although in this, as in other diseases,
if the symptoms accord with those of mercury, we do not
hesitate to employ that remedy, it is never, in Homœopathic
practice, given in sufficient quantities to produce salivation.
In a former chapter, also, I have shown the mischievous effects
of this remedy.
In the third place, neither here, nor in any other disease,
does Homœopathy sanction the administration of medicines
in such quantities as to produce nausea and vomiting. It is
entirely opposed both to her practice and principles.
In the fourth place, as I have already demonstrated in the
foregoing pages, purgatives are sanctioned neither by nature,
reason, nor common sense. They are never necessary, they
never do any good, and consequently they are never employed
by Homœopathy.
The same may be said of all the other expedients to which
Allopathy resorts: blisters and other counter-irritants, expec-
torants, opiates, &c., &c. These are our negative reasons for
dissenting from Allopathy. But we do not stop here: the
foregoing measures are rejected, not only on account of their
own imperfections and insufficiency, but because we possess
the power (by means so gentle that they cannot possibly
inflict injury, and so powerful that they seldom fail in their
action,) of subduing inflammatory disease, with a facility and
promptitude such as no other system affords.
Beyond this broad and general statement, it is not intended
to enter here into any description, either of the Homœopathic
doctrine, or the rules for selecting, and the modes of applying,
the remedies. Both these departments of the science would
demand more time and space than we can devote to them:
such an undertaking, moreover, forms no part of our present
design. Those persons who may be desirous of becoming
28
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
more intimately acquainted with the principles of the system,
may consult the works mentioned below.¹
As to the other branch of the subject—the selection and
application of the remedies-involving as it does a thorough
knowledge of disease, and a nice appreciation of every variation
in its symptoms, it is evident that nothing short of a complete
medical education, and extensive practical observation, can
supply the requisite qualifications for such a task. Passing
over these points, therefore, as irrelevant to our present object,
we proceed to place before the reader a series of cases, in
which he himself may witness what Homoeopathy has done,
and infer what it is capable at all times of doing, under similar
circumstances.
Concerning these cases it may be remarked, that they are
taken almost promiscuously from a host of others of the same
kind, detailed at length in my note book. So much selection
only has been exercised as was necessary to exhibit the disease,
both as regards its symptoms and cure, in prominent and unmis-
takeable characters. For convenience sake, they are grouped
under three heads, referring to the different ages and conditions
of the patients.
A few words are called for in explanation of the somewhat
unusual course adopted of including pleurisy under the same
head with pneumonia. The two diseases are frequently,
indeed generally, complicated more or less the one with the
other; their symptoms are then necessarily mixed; and even
when distinct, they bear, in many respects, a close resem-
blance—above all, the treatment of both, in the acute stage,
whether Allopathically, or Homeopathically, is, in many
points, identical. The professional reader will easily distin-
guish the cases belonging to the two diseases respectively.
¹ Hahnemann's 'Organon of the Healing Art.' 'Concise View of
Homœopathy,' published by the Dublin Homœopathic Society. Intro-
duction to the Study of Homœopathy,' by the Editors of the British
Homœopathic Journal,' Dr. Sharp's Tracts on Homœopathy, &c., &c.
AND PLEURISY.
29
To the non-professional reader, this is not a matter of sufficient
interest or importance to justify his being subjected to the
toil of travelling twice over the same ground, which must
necessarily be done, if a separate notice were devoted to each
complaint.
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS AND PLEURISY
IN ROBUST PERSONS.
WHAT reputation attaches to the old system of medicine
for curing inflammation of the lungs, is due to this class of
cases. Persons of good constitution, and in the vigour of
youth, or the prime of life, are endowed with a power of
vitality which enables them to bear with seeming impunity
the effects of depressing agents, under which more delicate
persons would either sink at once, or by the operation of
which they would be rendered weakly and ailing for the
remainder of their lives. So, in the cases we are now consi-
dering occurring in individuals whose systems are fortified,
by active habits and robust health, against the inroads
of disease, when it does attack them, the same resisting power
shields them against the noxious tendency of the depleting
and exhausting treatment to which they are commonly
subjected.
With such a foundation to work upon, bleeding and
its auxiliaries are employed with an unsparing hand. The
physician, undeterred by any apprehension of that failure of
strength, which in more delicate subjects arrests the flow of
blood, bleeds fearlessly to any extent, and repeats the opera-
tion to any number of times. In spite of the loss he has
sustained, the patient, backed by a good constitution, and
aided by good nursing, time, and perhaps pure air, ultimately
recovers.
Thus a cure is effected, of which bleeding enjoys the
credit. Nor will I assert that it is altogether undeserved.
The Allopathist, so long as he remains true to his colours, can-
not do without the lancet. Compared with a dangerous and
destructive disease, it is certainly the lesser evil of the two.
But if, as I boldly and firmly maintain, it may not only be
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, ETC.
31
safely and totally abandoned, but the disease be cured more
quickly and certainly by Homoeopathic remedies, it is clearly
the interest of the patient to demand, as it is the duty of the
medical man to supply, such an alternative.
CASE I.-Mrs. P—, aged 36.
February 28th, 1847.-Has been ill twenty-four hours. She is labour-
ing under all the symptoms of acute inflammation in a very aggravated
form. She has extreme pain around the lower part of the chest on the
right side, which becomes excruciating when she breathes deeply, coughs,
or moves: nor can she bear pressure on that part. The pulse is 100,
full, and hard; skin hot; she is very thirsty; there is dulness on
percussion, and very imperfect respiratory sound in the region of the
disease.
Take Aconite, 3d dilution, every two hours.
March 1st.—Her husband calls at nine o'clock, on his way to business,
to inform me that she has had no sleep during the night, and is still in
much pain.
To commence directly with Bryonia 3d, every three hours.
Visiting her in the afternoon, I find her in a sound sleep. The pain
has greatly abated, and with it the fever, thirst, and heat. The skin is
now perspiring freely; she breathes calmly, and with comparative ease.
Continue the Bryonia.
3d. She has no pain,
beating 75 in a minute.
thirst, or fever; her pulse is calm, soft, and
She feels well, and complains only of some
weakness. Imperfect respiration in the lung.
Take Sulphur 12th, twice a day.
5th.-Sends to report herself so well as to require no further
attendance.
This patient had previously a similar attack, and among other reme-
dies adopted for its removal was bleeding; and so satisfied was she of
the necessity of resorting to that measure on the present occasion, that
she strongly urged me, as soon as I entered her room, to perform the
operation. I had much difficulty in persuading her that she would re-
cover more speedily without it. She was not a little astonished at the
result.
CASE II.-Edward S-, aged 21.
March 13th, 1848.-Has been ill four days, and has not been able to
32
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
work since he was attacked. He is now labouring under severe head-
ache, pains in his limbs, chills, much thirst, quick pulse, hot skin, and
a severe pain, which darts through his chest immediately under the right
nipple, every time he breathes. It is increased to an intolerable degree
when he coughs, which he does frequently, and then spits up a quantity of
thick, yellow phlegm. He cannot lie on the affected side. Percussion
and the auscultatory sounds distinctly indicate inflammation of an ad-
vanced kind in the right lung. He attends at my house.
Aconite 3d, every three hours.
14th. Considerable relief.
Bryonia 3d, every four hours: Aconite at bed-time,
15th.—The feverish symptoms have disappeared, and he feels the pain
only a little, occasionally. The expectoration is easy, and the phlegm is
not so thick; he feels hungry.
Continue Bryonia, twice a day.
16th. He attends again at my house, having nothing to complain of
but a little debility. Respiratory murmur still imperfect, and consi-
derable dulness on percussion; occasional loose cough.
Phosphorus 12th, twice a day.
With this he was perfectly restored, and needed no further attend-
ance.
CASE III.-I. C-, aged 31. A tall thin figure; dark com-
plexion. Has been ill twelve hours.
March 7th, 1847.-Was seized yesterday with shivering, followed,
almost directly, by a shooting pain in the left side of the chest, extending
from the breast through to the back, causing excessive agony at each in-
spiration, and compelling him to keep both hands firmly fixed upon the
spot, in order to steady the ribs, and so procure a little mitigation of his
sufferings. His breathing is short, suppressed, and catching; he is
harassed by a severe hard cough, and already expectorates a quantity of
brick-dust coloured sputum. His pulse is 100 in the minute, small, and
sharp; his skin burning hot; he is very thirsty, and his tongue is
covered with a yellow coating. There is much dulness on percussion,
and distinct crepitation in the diseased portion of the lung.
Take Aconite 3d, and Bryonia 3d, alternately, every two hours.
8th. Some amelioration in the symptoms generally.
Continue the medicines.
9th.-Great and decided amendment in every respect. The pain is
AND PLEURISY IN ROBUST PERSONS.
33
still felt, but in a mitigated degree; expectoration not so red; breathing
more calm and deep; tongue cleaning; and but little thirst.
Continue both medicines, at longer intervals.
10th. He is much astonished at his improved condition, being, to all
outward appearance, well. Has no pain; no fever; no thirst; but little
cough; and spits a small quantity of white phlegm. He sleeps well, and
can lie on either side. Auscultation betrays considerable consolidation
of the lung, there being dulness, and almost entire absence of respiratory
murmur in the seat of disease.
Take Phosphorus 12th, three times a day.
12th.-Respiratory sound much restored; otherwise quite well.
Continue the medicines a few days longer. Cured.
CASE IV.-W. F—, aged 48; a tall, thin man, generally con-
sidered strong.
March 8th, 1848.-Twenty-four hours ago taken with shivering, which
still continues when he moves or turns in bed. He complains of pain
shooting through the right breast to the back, catching and stopping his
breath every time he inspires. His breathing is short and rapid; he is
distressed with a violent cough, which causes him great agony, and com-
pels him to cry out; he expectorates a little white, thin phlegm; his pulse
is 100, full and hard; he has a hot skin; is very thirsty; and loathes
food.
Take Aconite 3d, directly, then Phosphorus 6th, every four hours.
10th.-Wonderfully better. There is but very little pain remaining
-his breathing is deep, free, and regular-pulse soft, and natural; skin
cool; and no thirst.
To quote his own words," he feels quite a different man.'
Continue the medicine.
11th.-Being anxious about business, and at the same time rather self-
willed, he yesterday afternoon insisted upon getting up and going out.
There was a cold east wind blowing; he got chilled, and to-day is
suffering from an attack of diarrhoea. His cough is also more trouble-
some.
Take Mercurius 6th, every four hours.
12th.-Diarrhoea entirely subsided. He has cough, and severe
headache.
Belladonna 3d, at bed time.
2 $
34
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
13th.-Loose cough, and much headache.
Bryonia 6th, every six hours.
15th. Still bronchial cough, and much perspiration at night.
Mercurius 6th, three times a day.
20th.-Has little or no cough; enjoys his food; gains strength; and
goes out daily to attend to business.
Take two or three doses of Sulphur. Cured.
CASE V.-G. M-, a robust, temperate man.
November 2d, 1846.-Caught cold, and had chills four days ago.
Yesterday morning felt severe pain under the right arm pit, extending
down the side towards the lower ribs, and piercing him through the
chest "like a knife." It impedes his respiration to a distressing degree,
compelling him to hold his breath, fixing him as in a vice, in an im-
moveable position on the affected side, and even then he moans piteously
with each inspiration. His suffering is much aggravated by a short,
hacking cough, in which he expectorates a small quantity of white
phlegm. There is a good deal of dulness on percussion, and almost
entire obliteration of the respiratory murmur in the lower half of the
lung. Constitutionally he is also very ill, having rapid pulse, hot skin,
intense thirst, headache, foul tongue, which frequently gets dry, and
anxious expression of countenance.
Prescription: Aconite 3d, every hour.
3d. Eight hours after commencing the medicine, the pain began to
abate, and has continued to do so up to this time. He now lies on his
back, breathing freely and calmly. Constitutional excitement much sub-
dued; pulse 80-is nearly free from thirst and headache. This morning
has spat up a considerable quantity of phlegm, streaked with blood.
Take Bryonia 3d, every three hours. Aconite 3d, at bed time.
5th.-Mending rapidly. Scarcely a trace of pain remaining, even in
coughing. Expectoration purulent and brick dust colour: pulse natural;
tongue moist; no thirst. Complete absence of resonance and respiratory
murmur in region of disease. Loud bronchial respiration in the upper
part of the lung, with mucous râle.
Take Phosphorus 6th, every four hours.
7th.-Convalescent. Dull space in the chest more circumscribed.
Loose cough.
Continue Phosphorus, twice a day.
AND PLEURISY IN ROBUST PERSONS.
35
10th. He walks to my house, a distance of half a mile. Complains
of shortness of breath, and weakness.
Continue the medicines.
13th.-Attends again, feeling perfectly well, and intending to resume
his occupation in a few days. The healthy sounds in the chest are nearly
restored.
Sulphur 12th, twice a day.
This patient had a similar attack some years previously. He was then
bled five times, blistered, &c., and detained at home three weeks. The
present attack (inflammation of the lungs and pleurisy combined) was as
severe a case of the kind as I ever saw. Yet we see him restored to
health, and fit to resume his occupation in about twelve days. There
was here no loss of blood-consequently, but very little debility, and a
proportionately rapid recovery.
CASE VI.-A-, a girl, 15 years old.
July 10th, 1847.-Has been ill twenty-four hours. Was taken in the
first instance with shivering. She is now burning hot; complains of
headache, and thirst. Her pulse is rapid, hard, and jerking; she has a
severe, sharp, piercing pain in the left side of the chest, high up under
the arm. It hurts her dreadfully every time she draws her breath; and
when the cough, with which she is troubled, comes on, she cannot help
calling out with the agony. There is slight dulness on percussion. A
little roughness in the pleuritic surfaces. The respiratory murmur but
slightly altered.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
11th.—The feverish symptoms have entirely subsided, and the
breathing is much easier.
much easier. The pain
The pain is felt, and causes a slight catch,
only when she breathes deeply, or coughs.
Take Bryonia 3d, every four hours.
13th. The pain felt very slightly on taking a deep inspiration, experi-
mentally. She considers herself well. There are no unnatural sounds
in the chest.
A few more doses of Bryonia, at longer intervals, followed by Sulphur
12th. Cured.
She attended at my residence throughout the attack.
36
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
CASE VII.-Mrs. A. L-, aged 38.
February 9th, 1847.-Has been ill three days. Complains of a severe,
darting, piercing pain, immediately under the left breast, causing a
sudden stop or catch every time she inspires. She can speak only in
broken sentences, and holds her side for ease. She had severe shiverings
at first, but is now in a high state of fever-being hot in skin, thirsty,
and complaining of headache. Her pulse is quick, small, and incom-
pressible.
There is some slight dulness on percussion-the rubbing pleuretic
sound is very distinct. The respiratory murmur is interrupted only by
very slight crepitation, in a circumscribed portion of the lung.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
10th.-All the febrile symptoms greatly abated. The pain is still
severe.
Take Bryonia 3d, every four hours. Aconite 3d, at bed time.
11th.-Much relieved of the pain and difficulty of breathing; she has
no fever, and the pulse is natural in every respect. There is a good
deal of dulness on percussion and imperfect respiratory murmur; the
sound being at the same time louder than natural in the upper part of
the chest.
Take Sulphur 12th, every four hours.
13th. The respiratory murmur, and resonance on percussion, nearly
natural. No pain; no constitutional disorder. Sits up in the day,
enjoys her food, and sleeps well at night.
Continue the Sulphur a day or two longer. Cured.
CASE VIII.—Mrs. K—, aged 33. A short, stout, florid person.
February 22d, 1848.-Has been ill three days, with a pain in the right
side, which has continued gradually to increase to its present intensity.
It is of a cutting, darting kind, "like knives" piercing the side of the
chest just under the breast, and is much aggravated by breathing, motion,
and lying down in bed. She has a dry cough which distresses her ex-
cessively. She is very thirsty; complains of headache; is hot, and at
times shivering. Her pulse is quick, and hard.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
23d.—The pain is greatly abated; as are also the constitutional symp-
AND PLEURISY IN ROBUST PERSONS.
37
toms; there being but little fever, thirst, or headache. The pulse is more
subdued in force, and less frequent.
Take Bryonia 3d, every three or four hours: Aconite 3d, at bed time.
24th and 26th.—She continues the same medicine, with the same good
effect. She now feels the pain but very slightly, even in deep respira-
tion, and there is no constitutional disturbance.
28th. She is perfectly well, with the exception of some cough, for
which she takes Phosphorus twice a day, and subsequently Sulphur every
night at bed time.
This patient, like the previous one, attended at my house.
Two or three of these patients, it will have been remarked,
visited me at my residence, throughout the attack. This
circumstance is referred to, as strikingly corroborative of
what I have before stated, viz.-that the debility commonly
attendant upon such cases, when treated after the old method,
is more the effect of the remedies than of the disease. An
inevitable consequence of repeated bleedings, is a lengthened
confinement to bed. The patient's strength continues to fail,
in a rapidly increasing ratio, with every repetition of the loss,
and only ceases to do so, when the remedy is discontinued.
Under Homœopathy the case is just the reverse. The abate-
ment of the symptoms, and the return of the patient's strength
are simultaneous: they keep even pace with each other; and,
at that point in the disease, at which, in Allopathic practice,
the patient reaches the lowest degree of debility, in Homœo-
pathic practice, he is found with powers comparatively unim-
paired.
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS AND PLEURISY
IN DELICATE PERSONS.
THE following examples represent a large, and in respect to
our present object, the most important class of cases of inflam-
mation of the lungs. Occurring in persons debilitated by age
or other circumstances, they show, at one view, the inadmissi-
bility and insufficiency of the ordinary severe remedies, and the
admirable suitableness and complete efficacy of the Homoeo-
pathic treatment. Such cases, more frequently than any others,
place the Allopathist in a painful dilemma between the disease
on the one hand, and his patient's want of constitutional power
on the other. Actively inflammatory in its character, the dis-
ease, according to his system, cannot be combated successfully
without free bloodletting; but the employment of that remedy
is forbidden by the patient's want of stamina. Left to itself,
the disorder is pretty sure to terminate fatally, either directly
by its own destructive action, or indirectly by superinducing
consumption: the debilitating effects of depletory remedies, or
the imperfect cure of the disease by milder means, but too com-
monly lead to the same result.
CASE I.-Mrs. C-, aged 32, of rather small stature, thin,
spare, and at all times delicate. She is eight months gone in
pregnancy.
November 25th, 1847.—She has been poorly the last week, with cold
and lingering pains in the abdomen, as if premonitory of labour. Three
days ago these pains increased greatly, and have continued to do so up
to the present time. They recur regularly about every ten minutes, and
are evidently spasmodic, and not expulsive. There is no remarkable
constitutional excitement.
A few doses of Belladonna are ordered.
27th. She is no better. The spasmodic pains are not relieved, and
$
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, ETC.
39
!
in addition, there is an accession of a train of symptoms of the most
alarming character. Her pulse is beating 140 in the minute; her skin is
burning hot; her features are pinched and shrunken. She has intense
headache, and is confused in intellect. Her tongue is dry; she has
constant thirst, and vomits frequently. Her breathing is rapid, short,
and catching, and now for the first time she complains, on being closely
questioned, of a dull pain in the left side of the chest, under the arm and
towards the back. She has a troublesome cough, and cannot lie down in
bed, but is forced to be propped up with pillows.
On applying the ear to the chest, there is unequivocal evidence of in-
flammation of the left lung, which has no doubt been going on for days.
The middle and lower parts of that organ are quite dull in respiration,
and on percussion. There is very loud bronchial murmur; the right
lung is sound.
Take Aconite 3d, and Bryonia 3d, alternately, every hour.
28th. The action of these medicines has been magical. Yesterday
the whole aspect of the case was so frightful, as to excite serious doubts
of the patient's safety; to-day she is another creature. Her pulse is
subdued in force, and beating only 110, instead of 140, in the minute.
Her breathing is comparatively calm and easy, and she feels but little
pain, even in deep inspiration. The spasms of the abdomen have also
entirely ceased. She has very little thirst. Her tongue is moist, her
mind clear and composed, and her countenance has resumed its usual
expression.
Continue the same medicines at longer intervals.
29th. Still progressing most happily. All the symptoms have con-
tinued to improve. The pulse is now not much above the natural
standard. She lies down in bed and sleeps comfortably, when not dis-
turbed by her cough. Auscultation shows the lung to be undergoing a
healthy change. There is still much dulness on percussion, and total
absence of respiratory murmur, but these are more circumscribed.
Take Phosphorus 6th, three times a day.
Further details of this case would be useless. Suffice it to say, that
under the action of the last medicine, chiefly, her recovery was rapid and
uninterrupted. She was confined within the month, and had, at the
time, so far regained her strength as to be able to nourish her child as
usual.
Viewed in every light, a more gratifying case could scarcely present
itself to the Homoeopathist. Such instances, at the same time that they
40
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
put his system to the severest test, show that the circumstances of a
disease must be desperate, over which it will not triumph. Treated
Allopathically, this lady, as far as my experience enables me to judge,
would have stood not the slightest chance of recovery. But even ad-
mitting that her life might have been saved-at what a price must it have
been purchased! After the repeated bleedings which she must have
borne, and the blisterings and salivation which she must have
undergone, where would have been the strength to sustain her through
that other ordeal, which awaited her so near at hand?
CASE II.-Mrs. L-, aged 72.
June 17th, 1848.-She has been ill, and under the care of a medical
gentleman of the old school, the last five days. He bled her to 16
ounces, applied two blisters to the chest, and gave calomel. He pro-
nounced an unfavorable opinion of the case, but, being compelled to
leave town yesterday afternoon, and the patient continuing to get worse,
I am summoned to attend her at nine o'clock this evening. I find her
in a most dangerous and deplorable condition: in short, to all appearance
sinking rapidly. She lies prostrate on her back, sunk low down towards
the foot of the bed, and throwing her limbs about, as persons do, from
extreme exhaustion. Her breathing is rapid, short, and spasmodic; she
has a dreadful cough, with rattling of phlegm in the chest, which she has
not power to expectorate. She complains (as distinctly as she can, being
almost speechless) of an agonizing pain in her side when she breathes
and coughs. There is a hectic flush on her cheeks. Her tongue is
dry, brown, and parched; and she is intensely thirsty. Her skin
is dry, and the pulse 150 in the minute, as nearly as it can be
reckoned.
Take Aconite 3d, directly, and Rhus 3d, afterwards, every hour.
18th.-Ten o'clock-morning. Already a marvellous change has
supervened. She is lying comfortably on her side, and well up in bed;
complains of no pain: the cough has nearly left her; her tongue is moist;
and she has no thirst. She says, in a firm voice, and with clear intellect,
"I know I am better: I feel my disease relieved." Notwithstanding
this improvement she is still alarmingly weak, owing, in a great degree,
to a severe bowel complaint, which came on in the night, and still con-
tinues. She attributes it to the calomel powders which were taken up
to the time I saw her.
r
Take Arsenicum 3d, every two hours.
AND PLEURISY IN DELICATE PERSONS.
41
19th. The purging ceased a few hours after she commenced the medi-
cine. In every other respect she is greatly better, with the exception
that she is distressingly restless; breathing spasmodically, and at times
tossing about from side to side: all this resulting, evidently, from de-
bility, and not from the progress of the disease.
Take Rhus 3d, every two hours.
20th.-Very much better. The restlessness has entirely subsided. She
is perfectly calm and quiet, and altogether so much improved as to
warrant me in pronouncing her out of danger.
Continue the Rhus, every four hours.
21st.—Up and dressed, and sitting in another room; enjoys light food.
Has a little loose cough, and perspires at times.
Take Phosphoric Acid 12th, three times a day.
22d.-Again up and doing remarkably well: eating a mutton chop for
dinner.
She continued her medicine two or three days longer, and, at the end
of a week, was sufficiently restored to travel a considerable distance to
her own home, in the country.
CASE III.—R. T—, aged 50.
September 21st, 1847.—Though in years in the prime of life, his con-
stitution has become completely shattered by a complication of chronic
diseases, from which he has suffered many years, and for the relief of
which he has undergone a great deal of surgical and medical treatment.
The present attack has existed three days. He was seized in the first
instance with cold shivers, succeeded, shortly, by a severe pain in the
side. On visiting him, for the first time, to-day, I find him alarmingly
ill. His breathing is hurried, short, irregular, and attended with a catch
or sudden stop in the middle of each inspiration. He complains of a
stabbing pain through the right breast, which is increased to an agonizing
amount in coughing; it also prevents his lying on that side. There is
crepitation in the superior and middle portions of the lung, and dulness
on percussion; mucous rattle in the lower portion. He expectorates a
good deal of white phlegm. I never saw a man so thoroughly prostrated
by such an attack. His limbs tremble like an aspen leaf when he
attempts to move, and his speech is faltering. His pulse is 120 in the
minute, full, and jerking. His skin burning hot; his tongue brown, dry,
and parched; and he is intensely thirsty.
Aconite 3d, every two hours.
42
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
22d.—At four o'clock this morning he broke into a profuse perspira-
tion, which lasted till six. His skin is now cool and soft; his breathing
calm, deep, and much more free; expectoration mucopurulent. His pulse
is reduced to 95, and is soft and yielding; his tongue is moist, and he is
scarcely at all troubled with thirst.
Repeat Aconite at longer intervals, and take Bryonia 3d,
every four hours.
23d. Rapid improvement. His pulse is now at the healthy standard,
(75,) his tongue is moist, and he has but little thirst.
Continue the Bryonia, at longer intervals.
26th.-A severe attack of diarrhoea supervened yesterday. It was
speedily rectified by
Rhus 6th, every three hours.
To-day he is progressing most favorably; he wishes to sit up, and
complains of nothing but weakness.
Continue the Rhus.
29th.-Up and dressed, and walking about his room; has a a good
appetite; coughs at times, and spits up some phlegm. He is very
short of breath on exertion; and examination of the lung detects a con-
siderable amount of consolidation, with some mucous rattle.
He has no
pain whatever.
Take Sulphur 12th, twice a day.
October 4th. He visits me at my house. The lung is rapidly re-
suming its healthy function. He soon returned to his business, and
now (twelve months after) is perfectly well in respect to his chest.
Experience warrants me in expressing a confident opinion that this case,
under the ordinary mode of treatment, would have terminated fatally.
Even under the non-debilitating action of Homœopathic remedies, there
was the greatest fear, in the first instance, of collapse or failure of
power, supervening. The use of the lancet, purgatives, and salivation,
would inevitably have induced that dreaded condition.
CASE IV.-G. L-, aged 45, a tall, spare, and delicate man ;
generally has a cough, and is by no means strong.
June 15th, 1846.-Two nights ago he went to bed quite well; was
seized about midnight with violent shivering, which lasted an hour, and
was succeeded by a severe pain in the left side under the lower ribs.
It still continues, and pierces him through the chest, every time he
coughs or breathes. He yesterday began to spit up freely a quantity
AND PLEURISY IN DELICATE PERSONS.
43
of thick phlegm and blood, the latter predominating and imparting a
brick-dust colour to the whole mass. There is dulness on percussion,
imperfect respiration, and crepitation in all the lower portion of the
lung, loud bronchial rattle above. He has high fever, marked by thirst,
hot skin, headache, and small rapid pulse. He is forced to lie on his
back.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours, four doses: then Bryonia 3d,
every four hours.
16th.-Greatly relieved. Repeat the medicine.
»
17th. He has but little pain, and no fever or thirst; the cough
is comparatively slight, and the expectoration scarcely tinged with
blood.
Continue the Bryonia.
19th.-No pain. Pulse 60, soft and natural; skin cool; no thirst;
appetite pretty good; absence of respiratory sounds in diseased portion
of lung.
Take Phosphorus 12th, three times a day.
21st.-Slight crepitating rattle in some portion of diseased part.
He is quite convalescent, visiting me at my house, and anticipating
a resumption of his employment in two or three days. He is perfectly
well at the present date, (March, 1848,) and has had no illness in the
interval.
CASE V.-Thomas B-, aged 31; of spare, delicate habit,
and weakly constitution. Formerly a waterman. The last
year and a half employed in boiler-making, which he thinks
is too laborious for his strength. Five weeks ago he had an
attack of inflammation of the chest, not so severe as that under
which he is now labouring; he was then attended by a gentle-
man from a dispensary; leeched, blistered, &c., &c., and de-
tained at home three weeks.
April 26th, 1847.-Having resumed his work a fortnight, was seized
two days ago, with shiverings and headache, speedily succeeded by sharp
pain in the right side of the chest, extending downwards from under the
arm, and piercing through the back every time he breathes; and parti-
cularly so in coughing. He spits up a quantity of brown stuff, tinged
with blood. There is almost a total absence of respiratory sound, and
complete dulness on percussion. His pulse is 110, full, and hard: skin
44
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
hot and dry; tongue coated, and parched; he is very thirsty; and has
no appetite. Feels exceedingly weak and depressed.
Take Aconite 6th, every four hours, alternately, with Rhus 6th.
27th.-Reported as in every way much relieved.
Take Bryonia 3d, every four hours.
28th. No pain whatever except when he coughs hard. No fever;
no thirst; tongue clean, and moist; pulse 60, soft, and compressible;
expectorates a little clear phlegm.
Continue Bryonia three times a day.
29th.-Mending rapidly.
Take Phosphorus 12th, twice a day.
May 3d. He attends at my house, reporting himself well; no cough,
pain, fever, or thirst; good appetite; can lie with equal comfort on either
side; breathing sounds nearly natural.
Take a few doses of Sulphur. Cured.
CASE VI.-I. H-, aged 40, addicted to over-indulgence
in ardent spirits. He had delirium tremens slightly three
years ago; and has ever since been in a very delicate, ailing,
shaky condition.
March 31st, 1846.-The day before yesterday, was attacked with
vomiting, chills and heats, followed by severe pain, piercing through the
right breast to the back, much aggravated by coughing and deep inspi-
ration. His breathing is now quick and short, and attended with a
catching stitch in the side. He has a loose, backing cough, which causes
him great agony. His pulse is 118 in the minute, throbbing, full, and
soft; his skin is hot; and he has much thirst and headache. There is
almost entire absence of respiratory murmur and resonance over the
diseased part of the lung. Mustard poultices have been applied to the
chest, and opening medicines taken inwardly, without procuring the
smallest relief.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
April 1st.-Yesterday he could not move in bed without great pain
and difficulty-to-day he is dressed and sitting up in another room.
The pain in his side is gone, his skin is cool; he has no thirst;
his pulse is 95, soft, and compressible; cough not nearly so trouble-
some. In the afternoon, symptoms of delirium tremens manifested
themselves: he sees horrible objects in the room; talks about them
AND PLEURISY IN DELICATE PERSONS.
45
ridiculously; starts, and jumps up under some sudden impulse, which
as instantly vanishes. He has not slept the last two nights. He per.
spires freely.
Take Opium 3d, every two hours.
April 2d.-The spectres were neither so frequent in their visits, nor
so frightful in appearance, during the night: being chiefly composed of
fantastical figures and laughing faces. At five in the morning, he fell into
a sound sleep, which lasted some hours. He awoke calm and collected,
and continues so at the present moment. He is now only disturbed
by his cough.
Take Rhus 12th, every four hours.
5th and 7th.-Progressing most favorably. His appetite is good.
He is so much better as to be able to attend me at my residence.
Hepar Sulph. 12th, every night.
10th.-Reports himself perfectly well.
There is no point in the practice of medicine better understood than
the drunkard's inability to bear the loss of blood, or any other depletory
remedy. A few leeches applied, or a brisk purgative given, to a person
predisposed by intemperance to delirium tremens, will sometimes induce
that formidable disease. Such a state of constitution, combined with
inflammation of the chest, presents to the Allopathist the most em-
barrassing combination. The original disease calls aloud for the lancet--
delirium tremens as loudly forbids its employment. Between the two the
patient sinks.
Homœopathic remedies, as in the case before us, at once dispel the
difficulty.
These cases are exceedingly interesting, as exhibiting, in a
forcible manner, the vast importance attaching to the fact, that
Homœopathic remedies are not in the slightest degree debilita-
ting. None of these patients (if we except case No. 4) would
have borne the loss of blood to a sufficient extent to arrest the
disease. No. 2 was actually sinking under its influence. In
the case of No. 6, its employment was absolutely interdicted
by a predisposition to delirium tremens. In the others, either
from age, or constitutional weakness, there was a general want
of that power, which would have been necessary to enable
them to bear up under the combined forces of the disease, and
46
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, ETC.
exhausting remedies. The probability is, that they would all
have died.
We have also in these cases, a striking illustration of a truth
to which I have before alluded, viz.—that once a favorable
impression is made upon the disease, the subsequent amend-
ment is almost sure to be steadily and uninterruptedly progres-
sive. In Allopathic practice the physician's nerves are kept
constantly on the stretch, by the fear that any advantage gained
over the disease by bleeding, one moment, may, the next, be
lost in the accession, either of reaction, calling for a repetition.
of the operation, or a failure of strength from the loss that has
already been sustained. The case is thus reduced to a game
of chance: the patient being the stakes; the players, Death,
and the Doctor.
Į
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS AND PLEURISY
IN CHILDREN.
THE greater mortality which prevails in the first five years
of existence, over any other period of equal length, suggests
two important questions, viz. :—to what is this attributable ?
and how may it be prevented?
Among the children of the poorer classes, much of this
fatality may doubtless be ascribed to the untoward circum-
stances often inseparable from their condition in life-impure
air-insufficient and unwholesome food-imperfect clothing,
and bad nursing, Hygienic observances and sanitary regula-
tions, may do much towards lessening the mortality arising
from these causes. There are, however, other causes constantly
in operation, affecting alike the children of the rich and the
poor the influence of atmospheric changes, and the peculiar
excitability of the nervous and vascular systems which charac-
terises the age of childhood. These must ever remain beyond
our control. We are thus forced to the conclusion, that, in
spite of all our preventive efforts, the spring-time of life will
continue to be the harvest-time of death, and remain more
exposed than any other period to the attacks of disease, until
some means more prompt and efficient than those at present in
use, shall be adopted to combat these diseases. Prevent them
we cannot: Cure them we may.
Either in their simple form, or as accompaniments of other
disorders, such as scarlet fever, measles, hooping-cough, &c.,
inflammation of the lungs and pleurisy operate more power-
fully to the destruction of infantile existence than all other
diseases put together. Placing all his reliance in the treat-
ment of inflammation generally in the use of depletory agents,
the Allopathist endeavours to subdue these diseases by bleed-
ing, leeches, blisters, and purgatives. The experience of the
48
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
organ.
last 2000 years has proved how unequal these agents are to
effect such an object. Employed with comparative impunity
in the cases of adults, in whom the circulation is not easily
excited, and where the vital energies are strong and enduring,
these agents, applied to children, whose organization is both
more susceptible and more delicate, so far from arresting the
disease, do but hurry it on to a fatal termination. This is
mainly owing to the peculiar susceptibility just mentioned. So
rapid is the circulation in childhood, that it is almost impos-
sible to subdue it by the loss of blood, or if it be subdued, so
sensitive is the nervous system, that reaction is almost sure to
be established within a space of time far too short to have
allowed of any healing process taking place in the diseased
With the appearance of reaction, however frequent,
the necessity for repeating the bleeding also recurs, and then
the little patient, exhausted by the remedy, and unable to
oppose any resisting force to the inroads of the disease, falls
an easy victim to the one or the other, or what is more common,
to the combined influence of both. Fortunately, where Allo-
pathy fails, Homoeopathy comes to our rescue.
There is per-
haps no practical point in the whole Homœopathic system of
such inestimable value as the prompt and all but irresistible
command it gives us over the diseases of children. So unfail-
ing is the rule which guides the Homœopathist in his opera-
tions, that the two diseases of which we are now speaking, and
which under Allopathic treatment always prove formidable,
and so often fatal, when submitted to the action of Homœopa-
thic remedies, scarcely excite in the mind of the prescriber an
anxious thought or doubt as to the issue. I say this on the
strength of my own experience. I have tested the system in
hundreds of cases, with this result—that, where I formerly lost
Such results will ever
ten patients, I do not now lose one.
flow from a careful and steady adherence to the Homœopathic
doctrine; and it is to this source we must look for a diminu-
tion of that fearful mortality among children, which hitherto we
have been doomed to deplore, but have not been able to avert.
AND PLEURIST IN CHILDREN.
49
:
CASE I.-Emma H-, aged 5 years.
November 21st, 1847.-Eight o'clock in the evening. Through a
mistake on the part of the messenger who was sent for me, a neighbour -
ing medical gentleman was called in to see this patient. The desperate
condition in which he found her, induced him at once to declare her case
hopeless-that in fact she was then dying. He declined prescribing any
medicine; but, as a last resource, told the mother to apply cloths soaked
in hot vinegar to the chest, and put the feet in a mustard bath. The
mistake above referred to having been rectified, I saw the child about ten
minutes after. The following is the condition she then presented—she
way lying across her mother's lap, her legs hanging over one side, and
the head thrown as far back as possible over the other. Her mouth was
wide open, and gasping for breath; the eyelids were half closed-she
was congested in the head and face; lethargic and insensible. Her
breathing was exceedingly rapid and tumultuous. Every now and
then a short, hard cough supervened, and, from the momentary in-
terruption it caused in the breathing, seemed to threaten suffocation.
Her pulse was throbbing, and too rapid to be counted. The skin
was hot, yet covered in parts, especially on the forehead, with perspira-
tion.
She had been ill four days, gradually getting worse up to this morning,
when matters assumed the serious aspect just described.
Unconscious that she had been visited by any other medical man, I at
once prescribed Aconite, to be given every quarter of an hour.
Visiting her two hours after, the alteration which had already taken
place in her condition surpassed my expectation. Confident in the power
of Aconite, I was hardly prepared for such a striking change. The
tumultuous excitement had almost entirely subsided; the child was lying
in bed, breathing comparatively calmly. The brain was relieved she
was perfectly conscious, and answered when spoken to. Her skin was
soft and perspiring geutly. All the other symptoms had improved in
equal proportion.
Continue the medicine, every two hours.
22d.-Further and great amendment. She scarcely appears like the
same child.
She is cheerful and intelligent; breathes freely anl
3
50
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS
naturally-has very little thirst-her skin is cool-her pulse soft, and
not much above the healthy standard.
Take a few doses more of the medicine, at longer intervals.
27th. She progressed favourably up to this date, when there was
some accession of febrile symptoms, which being allayed by Aconite,
hooping-cough developed itself in the course of a few days.
She had Belladonna, and finally Drosera, and on the 3d of December
was reported as perfectly well.
CASE II.-Master H-, aged 4 years; generally a fine,
healthy, florid boy.
November 21st, 1846.-Seven o'clock in the evening. He has been
drooping the last three days. This morning he was seized with the
following urgent symptoms:
His pulse is
and his face
He is lying in bed, stretched out on his back, breathing loud, short,
and very rapidly, with a "catch" at almost every inspiration. He has a
slight hacking cough, which seems to cause much pain.
exceedingly quick and throbbing, his skin burning hot,
flushed, his nostrils dilated and working, his look anxious and quick; he
lies perfectly quiet, and does not move, except to make signs for drink,
for which he is incessantly craving.
Take Aconite every hour.
22d.-Sitting on the outside of his bed, washed and dressed, and
playing with his toys. On entering the room, and not perceiving my
patient in bed, where I left him the previous evening, I inquired of his
mother what had become of him; she replied by pointing to the little
fellow before me. It is almost needless to say, the urgent symptoms
above related had disappeared. He was all but well.
To take a few more doses of the medicine, at longer intervals. Cured.
CASE III.-E. C-, aged 2 years.
January 14th, 1847.-She has been ill twelve hours, and is now very
acutely affected. Her breathing is rapid, short, and laboured-pulse
exceedingly quick and throbbing-skin burning hot; there is in-
tense thirst; she is greatly oppressed, lying quite prostrate and motion-
less.
AND PLEURISY IN CHILDREN.
51
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours: on the 15th, Phosphorus every
four hours.
16th. The medicines have acted like magic. There is to day no
trace of the disease.
CASE IV.-E. W-, a female child, aged 7 months.
October 13th, 1847.-Nine o'clock in the evening. She has been ill
twenty-four hoxrs. She is thoroughly oppressed with the disease, lying
with her eyes closed, and apparently almost unconscious. She is labour-
ing distressingly for her breath; catching with each inspiration, as if
she would suffocate herself rather than endure the pain which respiration
produces. She is also harrassed with a short cough, which makes her
cry out. There is loud puerile respiration, with crepitation, in all the
lower and posterior portion of the chest on the right side, and rubbing
sound very distinct in the pleura. She is burning hot in skiu; and her
pulse is too rapid to be reckoned. She has incessant craving for cold
water.
Take Aconite 3d, every hour.
14th.-Ten in the morning. Very much relieved: her breathing is
deeper and more regular, and has lost the "catch;" but it is still too
rapid, (95 in the minute); she is not so thirsty; there is a loose
cough, which still causes her to cry out with pain. She is more
lively and happy, and her eyes are open and bright: skin still hot and
dry.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 6th, alternately, every two hours.
15th.—Skin cool and natural. There is some catching and difficulty
in the breathing.
Take Aconite and Bryonia 12th, alternately, every three hours.
16th. Decided amendment. The rubbing sound has disappeared-
there is some dulness, with crepitating and mucous rattle in the diseased
lung. Notwithstanding these improvements, she is still seriously ill, and
breathes too quickly. She is also very weak.
Take Phosphorus 12th, every four hours.
18th.-Progressing most favorably. Respiratory action, and murmur,
much improved, skin cool, she is lively and cheerful.
Continue the medicine: under the action of which, in a few days, she
perfectly recovered.
This case appeared, at the commencement, so desperately severe, and
52
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, ETC.
proved ultimately so obstinate, that had I treated it Allopathically, I
believe I should have stood no chance of subduing the disease. The
child would not have borne the repeated use of those active measures
which such a case, in Allopathic practice, would have imperatively de-
manded.
CASE V.—Ellen D-, aged 8 months; naturally a weakly,
delicate child, and still further reduced by the present attack.
November 8th, 1847.-Was poorly with a cough all last week. The
last twenty-four hours she has been much worse. She is now in a high
fever; has hot skin, rapid pulse, and much thirst. Her breathing is
quick, short, and catching, and attended with a severe and painful cough.
Auscultation detects complete dulness and absence of respiration in the
lower part of the right lung, with loud bronchial and mucous rattles
above.
Take Phosphorus 12th, every two hours.
9th. Better in every respect. Continue.
10th.-No fever, heat, or thirst; breathing sounds much restored;
some loose cough.
Continue the medicine twice a day for a few days longer. She was
then well, and had no further attendance.
BRONCHITIS.
THIS is a term applied to inflammation of the bronchi-
the air-passages intervening between the windpipe and the
substance of the lungs. In its milder forms it is the common
cause of temporary cough; and when, as often happens in our
damp and variable climate, it becomes confirmed, it constitutes
the long-standing, or what is called "constitutional cough,"
with which many, especially aged, persons are troubled.
Although individuals of all ages are exposed to its attack, chil-
dren and old people suffer from it most severely. Less dan-
gerous than the disease we have just been considering, it gene-
rally lasts longer, and, when very acute, is productive of more
suffering to the patient than that complaint. Frequently com-
plicated with inflammation of the lungs, and closely allied with
it in many of its symptoms, it yet has peculiar signs of its
own, by which it is easily and clearly distinguishable. Of
these the most striking are the loud wheeze, which, in the
earlier stages, accompanies the breathing; the cough, more
constant and distressing, and attended with a more copious
expectoration; the pain in the chest, often very severe, and of
a burning kind, and more widely diffused than in inflammation
of the lungs. The last symptom, as well as the cough, is often
greatly aggravated by the recumbent posture, so that the
patient is not able to lie down in bed for several days and
nights together. The physical signs elicited by auscultation
are also indicative of the disease.
The treatment ordinarily adopted is most complicated and
indefinite. Some medical men treat it actively, by bleeding,
cupping, leeching, blisters, mercury, &c. Others, running into
and leave nature to
the opposite extreme, do but very little,
her own efforts. The greater number pursue a middle course,
54
BRONCHITIS.
bleed moderately, apply blisters and embrocations to the chest,
administer expectorants, emetics, and purgatives. Of these
three plans, the second, possessing the advantage of not ex-
hausting the patient's strength, is the least objectionable. The
others harass and debilitate the patient, without eradicating
the disease.
The Homœopathist adopts neither of these modes. He does
not exhaust his patient by bleeding, and other antiphlogistic
means; nor does he pursue the do-nothing system, and leave
nature unaided; but, by the employment, in the first instance,
of such remedies as exercise a strong controlling power over
inflammatory action in general; and secondly, of such as act
upon the bronchial membrane in particular, he succeeds in
bringing this painful, and, at times, obstinate disease, to a more
speedy termination than can be effected by the ordinary Allo-
pathic measures.
CASE I.—Mr. P-, aged 45. A healthy, plethoric man.
January 9th, 1848.-Has been poorly the last week, with cold and
slight cough. He is now labouring under all the symptoms of acute
bronchitis, viz. :—quick, laboured breathing, greatly accelerated by the
least exertion, and attended with a loud wheeze; a sense of oppression
and tightness across the upper part of the chest, and a violent, irritating,
almost incessant cough, giving rise to a scanty watery expectoration. A
racking headache, hot skin, rapid pulse, great thirst, alternating heats
and chills, indicate much constitutional disturbance. Auscultation betrays
loud sonorous rattle in the upper part of both lungs, but more particu-
larly the right. He is unable to lie down in bed.
To take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
10th.-All the febrile symptoms greatly abated: pulse more calm;
thirst less; skin cooler. The chest is also considerably relieved: the
sense of tightness is removed; he breathes slower, and more regularly,
and the wheeze is scarcely audible. The expectoration is more
copious, and of a yellow colour; the mucous has for the most part
superseded the sonorous rattle. He now suffers from intense head-
ache, which seems to arise from, and to be much aggravated by, the
cough.
Take Bryonia 3d, every four hours.
BRONCHITIS.
55
11th.—Amendment in every respect: his cough is much easier, and
he has but very little headache; he has, at times, some heat about the
chest.
Take Spongia 12th, three times a day.
12th. His breathing is calm and easy, the expectoration much dimi-
nished, and losing its yellow purulent character; slept soundly some
hours in the night.
Continue the medicine.
14th.—Dressed and sitting up, feeling quite comfortable, and com-
plaining only of a little weakness, and some cough, which troubles him
occasionally.
Take Hepar Sulph. 12th, twice a day.
From this date he considered himself well, and in a few days resumed
his occupation.
CASE II.-Mrs. F-, aged 47.
January 7th, 1848.-Caught cold ten days ago, and has ever since had
a troublesome cough. Eighteen hours ago she was seized with the
following symptoms, which still continue in an aggravated degree-
tightness across the chest, and inability to breathe without great pain
and difficulty; her inspirations are slow and laboured, and accompanied
by a remarkably loud wheeze; she complains of burning heat in the chest,
and a darting, cutting pain, passing from under the left breast, through
to the back: this is much increased by inspiration, and causes her to
moan every time she draws her breath. She has constant distressing
cough. The whole of the chest presents to the ear the loudest sonorous
rattle; her pulse is quick and small; skin hot; mouth parched and
dry.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
8th.-The change in her complaint since yesterday is very striking.
The wheezing, which might then be heard distinctly outside the room,
is now scarcely audible at the bed side. Her breathing is so calm and
easy, that, without questioning her, one would not suspect that she was
labouring under disease of the chest. She has but little fever or thirst,
and the pulse is nearly natural. She still feels the pain through the
chest in breathing deeply, or coughing. There is free expectoration of
mucus, and loud mucous rattle in upper part of chest; some dulness,
on percussion and auscultation, in centre of left lung.
Take Bryonia 3d, every four hours.
56
BRONCHITIS.
9th and 10th.-Progressing most favorably under the action of the
same medicine.
12th.--She got up yesterday, and is now dressed and sitting by the
fireside, feeling "quite comfortable." Her breathing is natural; she has
out little cough; the pain in the side is removed; she begins to take food,
A few doses of Sulphur are prescribed, and being now quite convalescent,
no further medical attendance is needed.
CASE III-A fine fat child, aged 16 months; of a very irrita-
ble temperament.
January 12th, 1847.-Has been ill two days; his present symptoms
are of an unusually aggravated character. The breathing is very rapid,
the wheezing remarkably loud, producing a sawing noise. He is very
hot, feverish, and thirsty. There is also much gastric disorder: he is
sick, and the bowels are much relaxed.
Take Aconite 6th, and Chamomilla 6th, alternately, every two hours.
13th.—He is greatly relieved; the purging has ceased; he is less
restless and irritable; skin cooler; cough loose, and less constant; the
wheezing much abated. He still vomits occasionally.
Take Ipecacuanha 6th, every two hours.
14th. He has the same medicine again, and on the 16th is perfectly
well.
CASE IV.-R. W—, aged 2 years. A florid, stout, hearty
boy; has been ill 24 hours.
April 21st, 1847.-Has a loud dry cough; is husky and hoarse; his
breathing is rapid, and attended with the characteristic wheeze; he is
feverish, very thirsty, hot in skin; his pulse is rapid, and he is very
restless.
Take Aconite 6th, every four hours.
23d.—With the exception of a little troublesome cough this child is
perfectly well, his breathing is natural, skin cool, has no thirst. He is
laughing and romping.
Take Chamomilla 12th, twice a day. Cured.
These cases might be multiplied, if needful, almost to infinity.
Enough have been quoted to show with what facility the disease
BRONCHITIS.
57
yields to the action of Homœopathic remedies. Efficient,
even in persons of the most advanced age, it is in the dis-
order, as it occurs in children, that the power of these reme-
dies is most strikingly conspicuous. In the latter respect we
shall have occasion to recur to the subject when treating of
hooping-cough, measles, &c.
3 8
INFLAMMATION OF THE WINDPIPE.
THE windpipe is the uppermost portion of the apparatus
devoted exclusively to breathing. It connects the mouth with.
the bronchial tubes named in the last chapter. Like the other
parts of the respiratory organs, it is liable, under the influence
of cold, damp air, and other causes, to be attacked by active
inflammation, and when so attacked, the disease is called Laryn-
gitis-the larynx being the part of the tube most commonly
affected.
In a chronic form, it is a frequent attendant upon consump-
tion, and then constitutes one of its most painful symptoms.
We are now about to consider it in its simple acute form,
unconnected with disease of the lungs.
There is scarcely an inflammatory disorder, in- the treatment.
of which tha Allopathic practitioner is not exposed to embar-
rassment and disappointment, arising from the violent and
uncertain action of his remedies. This is more conspicuous in
some cases than others; but in none more so than in the
different affections of the throat. That it is true, as regards
the complaint now in question, medical literature supplies us
with numerous melancholy examples. One of the most inte-
resting is that of General Washington. *"Some time on the
night of Friday, the 10th of December, 1799, having been
exposed to rain on the preceding day, General Washington
was attacked with an inflammatory affection of the upper part
of the windpipe, called, in technical language, cynanche tra-
chealis. The disease commenced with a violent ague, accom-
panied with some pain in the upper and fore part of the throat,
*Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine.
INFLAMMATION OF THE WINDPIPE.
59
a sense of stricture in the same part, a cough, and a difficult
rather than a painful, deglutition, which were soon succeeded
by fever, and a quick and laborious respiration. The necessity
of bloodletting suggesting itself to the General, he procured a
bleeder in the neighbourhood, who took from his arm in the
night, twelve or fourteen ounces of blood. He could not by
any means be prevailed on by the family to send for the attend-
ing physician till the following morning, who arrived at Mount
Vernon at about eleven o'clock on Saturday. Discovering the
case to be highly alarming, and foreseeing the fatal tendency
of the disease, two consulting physicians were immediately
sent for, who arrived, one at half after three, and the other at
four o'clock in the afternoon. In the mean time were employed
two pretty copious bleedings, a blister was applied to the part
affected, two moderate doses of calomel were given, and an
injection was administered, which operated on the lower intes-
tines, but all without any perceptible advantage; the respira-
tion becoming still more difficult and distressing. Upon the
arrival of the first of the consulting physicians, it was agreed,
as there were yet no signs of accumulation in the bronchial
vessels of the lungs, to try the result of another bleeding,
when about thirty-two ounces of blood were drawn, without
the smallest apparent alleviation of the disease. Vapours of
vinegar and water were frequently inhaled; ten grains of
calomel were given, succeeded by repeated doses of emetic-
tartar, amounting in all to five or six grains, with no other
effect than a copious discharge from the bowels. The powers
of life seemed now manifestly yielding to the force of the dis-
order; blisters were applied to the extremities, together with
a cataplasm of bran and vinegar to the throat. Speaking,
which was painful from the beginning, now became almost im.
practicable; respiration grew more and more contracted and
imperfect, till half after eleven on Saturday night, retaining
the full possession of his intellect, when he expired without a
struggle.
Several hours before his death, after
repeated efforts to be understood, he succeeded in expressing
60
INFLAMMATION OF THE WINDPIPE.
a desire that he might be permitted to die without further in-
terruption."
Dr. Chyne, from whose article on Laryngitis the foregoing
case is extracted, says, "General Washington died within
twenty-four hours of the commencement of his illness; and
we cannot deny that in this supposed case of croup, the
remedies employed, however justifiable in the then state of
medical information, probably shortened the General's life.
If bleeding fails to subdue an inflammatory disease, it will be
hurtful, by depressing the power by which the muscles act.
As then there are cases in which bloodletting is salutary,
and cases in which it is hurtful, let us try to ascertain
when, and to what extent that remedy ought to be prac-
tised: and let us be permitted to premise that cases will
occur in which it may be difficult to come to a satisfactory
conclusion with respect to bloodletting; in which the con-
siderations for and against that remedy will be balanced so as
to make the most skilful and experienced physician pause. In
such a dilemma, however, it will be well that the physician
should not allow his doubts to transpire."
The public, and the profession, have lately had to lament
the untimely close of a career of usefulness, in the premature
death of Dr. Jordan Lynch. The subject is thus alluded to
in a paper devoted to his memory in 'The Medical Directory
for 1848." "On Friday evening, June 18th, he was seized
with rigors, followed by a painful sense of constriction about
the upper portion of the throat and palate. He swallowed
four grains of Calomel and went to bed, but by the following
morning the symptoms had considerably increased-and it
was quite evident active inflammation had set in, sufficient to
warrant him, as he thought, to deplete by the application of
a considerable number of leeches, and to purge himself by re-
peated doses of the mixture of salts and tartarized antimony.
By this time the power of deglutition and speech was lost.
During Sunday lancinating pains shot through the larynx,
which led to a repetition of leeches, and an injection was
INFLAMMATION OF THE WINDPIPE.
61
administered, all by his own directions. It was clear that by
this time the inflammation had travelled to parts of equally
vital importance-the air-passages of the lungs, which, (from
the specific nature of the inflammation, added to his own, it is
to be feared, injudicious treatment of himself.) was combated
in vain, and he died on Wednesday morning."
"It would be out of place here (observes the author), to
discuss the question of the propriety of active and extreme
antiphlogistic treatment in any cases of sore throat, but the
case of Dr. Lynch is one of many in which depletory mea-
sures, it is feared, hastened, rather than retarded the fatal
termination."
Almost simultaneously with this event, another valuable
member of the profession fell a victim to a similar attack.
Mr. Quekett, of London, was taken ill on Monday, the 21st
of June, 1847. Symptoms of inflammation of the throat and
windpipe speedily manifested themselves-within a few hours
the pain shifted to the larynx-deglutition became almost im-
possible, and the voice was reduced to a whisper. This con-
dition continued, with slight and temporary alleviation, for
several days. On Saturday he suddenly exclaimed that some-
thing had burst in his throat, and he instantly swallowed half
a pint of liquid, though with some difficulty, and his voice
began to mend. As soon as this affection subsided, the lungs
became diseased-the symptoms rapidly augmented, attended
with great exhaustion, and on Monday evening, the 28th, he
died. "The remedies employed were venesection (once),
leeching (about seven dozen leeches were applied, at different
times to the throat and chest), blisters, two doses of calomel,
mercurial inunction, and enemata. After the first day it was
found impossible to administer remedies by the mouth.'
Not disputing that this treatment was in strict accordance
with the generally received notions of correct practice, the
question forces itself irresistibly upon the mind, what part,
*Coudensed from the Medical Directory.'
62
INFLAMMATION OF THE WINDPIPE.
seeing that it effected no good, did the loss of blood from
venesection and eighty-four leeches play in inducing the ex-
treme exhaustion under which this patient died? Again, had
this loss been avoided, and a system of medicine employed,
which always admits of remedies being administered by the
mouth, is it not fair to presume that the result would have
been very different ?”
These fatal examples of the utter inadequacy of bleeding,
and other active remedies, to arrest the onward progress of
the disease (to say nothing of their acknowledged injurious
properties), convey an important lesson to the Allopathist.
They admonish him, in language more powerful than living
lips could utter, to abandon a system, to which, almost in the
same breath, one of its ablest advocates is compelled to apply
the terms, "hurtful," "difficult," "doubt," and "dilemma."
Dr. Lynch wrote an Essay on Laryngitis'-and, as if in con-
demnation of his own principles, we see him falling a self-
immolated victim to their mischievous application. The
American patriot uttered a no less cutting satire upon Allo-
pathy, when, sinking under its painful and exhausting reme-
dies, he prayed "that he might be permitted to die without
further interruption."
The superiority of the Homœopathic plan of treatment,
over that just detailed, is too obvious to need description.
Suffice it to say, that there are but few cases of this disease,
in the cure of which, if brought within a reasonable period
from their commencement, under the action of Homœopathic
remedies, any insurmountable difficulty need be apprehended.
The following cases, though fortunately not of a very
aggravated kind, afford valuable evidence in support of this
assertion.
CASE I.—A. C-. A tall, thin, fast-growing youth of
fourteen.
June 19th, 1847.-Awoke this morning with headache, and a feeling
of general illness. Attempting to dress himself, was seized with
INFLAMMATION OF THE WINDPIPE.
63
staggering, forced to return to bed, and a severe shivering fit followed.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, on first visiting him, lie betrays all the
symptoms of general fever, such as throbbing headache, thirst, hot skin,
rapid pulse, (120 in the minute,) and aching pains in every part of the
body. There is also a feeling of fulness, and tightness, about the throat,
but not sufficient to cause inconvenience. Several of his school-fellows
are at the present time ill in the same way.
Take Aconite 6th, every three hours.
20th. Great amendment. Fever abated, he is calm, cool in skin
little headache; pulse mild, and much less frequent. The feeling in the
throat, which was spoken of yesterday, has left that part and passed to
the roof of the mouth, which is considerably inflamed.
Take Belladonna 12th, every four hours.
From this date to the 25th he continued to mend as favorably as could
be desired. A little feverishness, however, still hung about him,
causing at one time, severe headache, at another, oppression at the
chest. In the course of the last named day, he was seized, suddenly,
with a severe pain in the throat, and difficulty of swallowing, and
breathing. Summoned, in haste, to visit him in the evening, I find him
labouring under an attack of Laryngitis. There is high fever, heat,
thirst, quick pulse, &c. Examining the throat inwardly, there is diffused
redness about the fauces, but no swelling of the glands. He complains
of excessive tenderness in the windpipe: he cannot bear the least
pressure on that part. His breathing is dry, husky, and sawing, and is
accompanied by a cough of the like character.
Take Aconite 3d, one dose, then Belladonna, every two hours.
26th. Much the same. The larynx excessively tender; and the voice
hoarse and broken.
Take Spongia 12th, every two hours, preceding it by another dose.
of Aconite.
ease.
9
27th.-Wonderfully relieved. He can speak, and swallow with
The cough is less frequent, and less painful; still some tenderness
on pressure in the front of the throat. Constitutional excitement sub-
dued.
Take Hepar Sulph. every four hours.
28th. Some hoarseness-in other respects all but well.
Lachesis, twice a day.
29th.-Up and dressed, and eating cold lamb for dinner. Cured.
64
INFLAMMATION OF THE WINDPIPE.
CASE II.-H. H-, aged 31; a cook.
April 3d, 1847.-Went out five evenings ago in a cold east wind. The
next morning, felt an uncomfortable sensation in her throat, which has
gone on increasing to its present condition. She speaks in a low whisper;
has a tight feeling across the upper part of the throat, as if a cord were
drawn around it. It gives her great pain to speak, breathe, or swallow,
and the larynx is exceedingly tender to the touch. She has a troublesome,
tickling cough, and occasionally expectorates a small quantity of phlegm.
There is loss of appetite, thirst, headache, some heat of skin, and rather
accelerated pulse.
Take Aconite 6th, and Spongia 6th, alternately, every four hours.
5th.--Greatly relieved. The voice is all but natural, there being only
an occasional failure of a part of a word. The larynx is not tender when
pressed; she has no fever or thirst, and her appetite is returning; the
cough is loose, and the expectoration easy.
Hepar Sulphuris, three times a day.
7th. The hoarseness which existed the other day has left her. All
she complains of now is the cough.
Continue the medicine.
12th. There is no cough. She has leucorrhoea, and a little hysterical
rising in the throat.
Take Pulsatilla 12th, daily for a week.
19th.-Perfectly well.
CASE III. C. D-, aged 21. A pale, delicate, young
woman, of a scrofulous habit, having at the present time an
enlarged gland under her jaw, on one side.
April 15th, 1847.-Has felt unwell the last four days, having caught
cold from going out in a sharp cutting wind. She has completely lost.
her voice, and cannot speak, breathe, or swallow, without considerable
difficulty; nor can she bear any pressure on the larynx. She got no
sleep last night, on account of a burning heat in the throat. She has
headache, thirst, hot skin, quick pulse, and loss of appetite; is troubled.
also with a hoarse, short, hacking cough, and her breathing is attended.
with a loud, sawing noise.
Take Aconite 6th, and Spongia 6th, alternately, every four hours.
INFLAMMATION OF THE WINDPIPE.
65
On the 16th.-Continue the Spongia.
17th. The throat considerably relieved; the voice returning; there
is not so much pain in the larynx, though still tender on being pressed.
She is dizzy, and feels a throbbing pain in the left side of the neck, ex-
tending up to the top of the head.
Take Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
19th. She is much better of the last-named symptoms, but complains
of a burning pain in the upper part of the chest and throat.
Take Arsenicum 12th, three times a day.
22d.-Greatly improved: voice natural; no pain or burning in the
throat; some cough.
Take Hepar Sulph. 12th, twice a day.
26th.-Perfectly well in every respect.
CASE IV-A stout, strong, servant girl; has been ill eight
hours.
October 14th, 1847.-In a high fever; has thirst, headache, lot skin,
quick pulse, and alternating heats and chills. She complains of
pain in the left side of the larynx, much increased by swallowing,
and by pressure.
Voice imperfect; breathing laboured, and long-
drawn.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 6th, alternately, every four hours.
16th.-Voice quite gone. There is no redness in the throat
within sight, but the larynx is more tender on pressing it outwardly.
There is a slight husky cough, and the constitutional excitement still
continues.
Take Aconite 6th, and Spongia 6th, alternately, every four hours.
19th. No soreness in the windpipe; voice returning; and in other
respects proportionately better. There is at times a little fever and
thirst.
Take Hepar Sulph. 12th, twice a day. Cured.
CROUP.
THIS is another inflammatory affection of the windpipe-
very analogous to the one we last considered-but differing
from it in the following respects: it is principally incidental
to children, and young persons under the age of puberty—it
extends lower down in the air-passages, and gives rise to the
formation of a peculiar adventitious membrane, which lines
those passages, and, obstructing the entrance of air into the
lungs, proves fatal by inducing suffocation. It is known as
one of the most rapidly and certainly fatal diseases to which
children are liable, and is recognised by the peculiar noises
which accompany the cough and breathing. The former of
these is like the short, sharp, half suppressed bark of a dog;
the latter like the noise caused by sawing a piece of wood,
only more prolonged. Without hearing them it is difficult to
form an exact notion of these sounds: once heard, they can
never be mistaken, or forgotten. But, even when heard for
the first time, these comparisons will serve to excite the sus-
picion of the mother or nurse as to the nature of the attack.
Let them not lose one moment in acting upon that suspicion;
for the principal hope of safety for the child, depends upon
the disease being met with the utmost promptitude in its
earliest stage.
As regards the treatment ordinarily adopted, I have already
implied that it is lamentably unsuccessful; and, affirming the
disease to be inflammatory, sufficiently indicates in what that
treatment consists.
In spite of the notorious inability of children to bear with
impunity the application of depressing remedies in this dis-
ease we have their employment pushed to its utmost limit.
Bleeding from the arm, the jugular vein, and by leeches;
CROUP.
67
tartar-emetic in vomiting doses, frequently repeated, and long
continued; mercury in large quantities; blisters; warm baths;
these are all brought into action, not, as in some other dis-
eases, successively, and at intervals spreading over severel
days, but almost simultaneously, or, at the utmost, within the
space of a few hours. The number of patients that recover
under this process is marvellously and deplorably small.
It
would be a curious experiment to ascertain how many more
would survive, simply from its omision!
Without pretending to assert that Homœopathy, even in
the majority of cases, is equal to the task of subduing this
formidable disease, it may nevertheless be safely affirmed,
that it holds out an infinitely better prospect of success than
any
other mode of treatment. This assertion is amply borne
out by Homœopathic experience. In my own practice, until
I began to apply this system to such cases as came under my
care, I never had the good fortune to see more than one
Since then I have treated several cases, and, though
I have had to regret the loss of some of them the greater
number have been restored.
recover.
The following are striking examples of the latter class.
CASE I.—H. H—, aged 2 years. Sanguine temperament,
dark complexion. Three years ago another child in this family
was attacked with croup, which ended fatally in the course of
twenty-four hours.
November 12th, 1846.-A cold, damp north-east wind prevailing.
Seized, twenty-four hours since, with an almost incessant, shrill, metallic
sounding cough. The breathing, both in inspiration and expiration, is
remarkably laboured and long-drawn, producing a loud, sawing noise.
He is completely prostrated by the attack, lying motionless and almost
insensible across his mother's lap at the same time throwing his head
back as far as possible in order to straighten the windpipe, and if any
attempt is made to raise him, he appears as if he would be strangled. He
is bloated and congested in the head and face; pulse rapid, and
:
68
CROUP.
throbbing; skin alternately dry, and bathed in perspiration; incessant
thirst.
Take Aconite 6th, every half hour.
13th. The cough was so severe in the night, that his parents feared
he would be suffocated. It is more metallic and thoroughly croupy than
yesterday. The breathing is still as loud and rasping, He keeps putting
his hands to his throat as if to tear away something that distresses him.
Pulse less rapid, and the skin not so hot.
Take Aconite 6th, and Spongia 6th, alternately, every hour.
14th.-Slept two hours yesterday evening; in the night was again
most alarmingly ill, and is now greatly exhausted. The breathing,
though still laboured, is certainly considerably relieved; being more free
and calm, and less dry and husky. The cough is also somewhat looser,
and less metallic. The pulse is subdued, and the skin of a more natural
warmth.
Continue the Spongia, every two hours.
15th. He was so much better this morning as to get down and run
about the room; but now, at noon, he has resumed his old position on
his mother's lap, lying perfectly still, in a heavy, lethargic state;
breathing rapidly, and with the old sawing noise, but the cough,
though troublesome, has lost its dry, metallic sound, and betrays
the collection of a good deal of the phlegm in the throat and bronchial
tubes.
Take Hepar Sulph. 6th, every two hours.
16th.—The breathing has nearly lost its croupy character, and is now
quick, thoracic, and catching, indicating, together with the auscultatory
signs, an attack of inflammation of the bronchi, and lungs. There is
fever, thirst, and heat of skin.
Take Aconite 6th, every two hours.
In the evening much relieved.
Take Bryonia 6th, every three hours.
From this time his amendment was rapid and uninterrupted, and on
the 19th he was perfectly well.
This child had another attack in the spring of 1848, almost as severe
as the foregoing, and recovered as favorably under the use of the same
remedies.
CASE II.-M. B--, a weakly, delicate girl, aged 9 years.
Has been three weeks under medical treatment, at one of the
CROUP.
69
hospitals, for an attack of sub-acute inflammation of the wind-
pipe, attended with general constitutional disturbance. She
continues to get worse; and at the present date,
December 30th, 1847.-She speaks in a whisper; has a croup-like
cough; is very tender to the touch in the larynx; breathing produces a
loud, sawing noise, and she points to the top of the windpipe as being
the seat of her suffering. She has used gargles to the throat, and taken
Rhubarb and Magnesia inwardly.
Hepar 12th, every night; Spongia 12th, every morning.
January 2d. The breathing and cough became, in the course of the
night, so alarmingly laboured and suffocating, that her friends were
apprehensive of her immediate dissolution, and summoned me in great
haste to visit her at four o'clock this morning. I found her somewhat
relieved, but still struggling for her breath.
Take Spongia 6th, and Aconite 6th, alternately, every hour.
3d.-Greatly better in every way; breathing and coughing with
freedom and ease.
Continue the same medicines, at longer intervals.
6th.-Sitting up, nearly well, getting her voice perfectly, and
breathing with a healthy sound.
Take Hepar Sulphuris 6th, three times a day.
10th.-Improving: some hoarseness.
Lachesis, twice a day.
14th.-Voice good; still a little hoarseness, and headache.
Continue Lachesis, twice a day.
She requires no more medicine. Cured.
Nine months since, a brother of this child died in an attack of
croup.
CASE III.—James S--, aged 2 years. A stout, florid child.
September 11th, 1848.-He is stupid and lethargic, lying perfectly
still, and taking no notice of anything. His skin is burning hot; pulse
exceedingly rapid; his breathing both in inspiration and expiration, is
laboured, loud, and long-drawn; and he coughs with the dry, barking,
metallic sound, peculiar to croup.
Take Aconite 3d, every hour.
12th.-His mother brings him to my house, sitting upright in her
arms, comparatively well. He is cheerful, wakeful, and playing with a
#
70
'CROUP.
toy; is cool in skin, and has but little thirst; his breathing is still
rough, and when he coughs, the noise is the same. He had a dreadful
night, and was very ill till two hours ago, when he all at once rallied,
and assumed his present improved aspect.
Take Aconite 12th, and Spongia 12th, alternately, at intervals of
four hours.
13th.--He comes trotting in by his mother's side, cheerful, and well.
He has simply a little cough, which seems to hurt him, since he cries out
when it overtakes him.
Spongia 12th, twice a day. Cured.
CASE IV.-E. S-, a girl, aged 4 years.
May 19th, 1848.-The present attack has been coming on several
days. She has now all the symptoms of croup in a severe form: loud,
sawing breathing-so loud (especially in the night, when she gets
worse,) as to be audible in any part of the house. A dry, barking cough
comes on in paroxysms, threatening suffocation. She is very thirsty
and hot; and her pulse is rapid. She is heavy and congested in
the head, and throws it back on the pillow, and rolls it from side to
side.
Take Aconite 6th, and Spongia 12th, alternately, every two hours.
20th. Considerably better: she had a very bad night; but this
morning her breathing is greatly relieved, having nearly lost the croupy
sound, and the cough is loose and easy. The fever has entirely sub-
sided.
Take Hepar Sulph. 12th, every four hours.
21st. Still progressing rapidly, and favorably.
Spongia, every six hours.
With this she quite recovered.
It is rather remarkable that the parents of this patient also lost a
child in croup some years ago. A similar circumstance has been re-
corded in connection with two out of the other three cases: strongly
corroborating a fact which has often been observed, viz. :-that the
disease is very apt to prevail in particular families.
HOOPING-COUGH,
So named from the singular shrill noise, or hoop, produced
by inspiration at the end of each paroxysm of coughing, is an
affection of the respiratory organs, to which many children
fall a prey. In its simple form, it is a comparatively harmless
complaint, and runs its course, generally extending over a
period of some weeks, without materially interfering with the
health of the patient. When, as frequently happens, it be-
comes complicated with bronchitis, inflammation of the lungs,
or convulsions, it assumes a more serious aspect, and often
leads to a fatal termination.
There exists amongst medical authors much discrepancy of
opinion, both as to the precise nature of hooping-cough, and
the organ, or part, in which it is situated: some maintaining
that it has its origin in the brain and nervous system; others,
that it is simply a spasmodic affection of the windpipe; and
a third party, that it consists in an inflammatory condition of
the bronchial tubes. Without pretending to decide a point.
on which so many wise heads differ, I wish to call the reader's
attention to the conclusion which Dr. Johnson deduces from
this unsettled state of the question, namely, "that the young
practitioner is left without any steady guide to regulate either
his prognosis or practice."*
Founded on an assumption, as fallacious as it is plausible,
this sentence opens to our view one of the weakest points in
the old system of medicine. It takes for granted, that, fail-
ing our knowledge of the precise nature and seat of a disease,
we are left without a standard by which to regulate our treat-
ment.
* Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine,' article, "Hooping-Cough."
HOOPING-COUGH.
72
A proposition so subversive of all sound therapeutical doc-
trine, the Homoeopathist utterly repudiates. The Allopathist,
by admitting it, robs his system of the only basis on which
any system of medicine, to be permanent and useful, must
rest-and presents to us the absurdity, of a superstructure
without a foundation. To prove this we have but to name,
at random, any of the commonest diseases, and see what we
know of them, either as regards their precise nature or situ-
ation. Fever, for the first example-in this disease, the whole
body from head to foot is on fire; every sense disturbed;
every function implicated-what is its nature, and in what
particular spot is it located? Rheumatism-how shall we
fix its habitation,-how determine its essence? To day the
pain is here, to-morrow there; now in one joint, now in
another. Once more: the glutton indulges in a debauch, and
awakes in the morning with an agony in his toe! Is that
the seat of the disease? If so, what mean the aching head,
the general fever, the vomiting, and other stomachic de-
rangements, which mark the accession of Gout? Question
other disease, in the same way: the result is equally unsatis-
factory.
66
Our acquaintance with disease, in these respects, being so
exceedingly imperfect, and, as a necessary consequence, totally
inadequate to regulate our practice," it becomes a question,
Do we possess any other "steady guide" to direct us in the
application of our remedies? We unhesitatingly answer in
the affirmative. Since the dawn of medicine, those devoted
to its study must have observed, that, wherever disease existed,
certain outward signs called "symptoms" were never wanting
to indicate its presence: and further, that those symptoms
assumed an infinite variety of feature, according to the varying
character of the disease. It must also have struck them,
that a state of things so extraordinary, and so constant, could
not exist without an adequate object: that they must be
designed to perform some important office for the good of the
individual in whom they appeared. That office it was reserved
HOOPING-COUGH.
73
for Hahnemann to discover and explain. He has done so in the
doctrine of “like cures like.”* He has shown, on incontro-
vertible grounds, that these symptoms-nature's voice made
audible to our senses-constitute the only sure and “steady
guide" to a safe and rational mode of treatment. Hidden from
our view by an impenetrable veil, the nature and operations of
the vital principle, of which disease is only a variation, are alike
beyond our grasp, and unnecessary to our practice. We have
no knowledge of the intimate nature of a disease, but from
its external manifestations, or symptoms. What language is
* The following practical example may, perhaps, render this law more
intelligible than it might otherwise be, to such readers as may be un-
acquainted with the system, and to whom the above axiom would, con-
sequently, convey no distinct meaning.
Tartar Emetic is one of the most powerful emetics. When taken in
sufficiently large doses, it excites, first of all, deadly nausea, then violent
vomiting, accompanied with great prostration of strength, and cold
sweats.
March 15th, 1849.-Miss H., aged 32, yesterday afternoon was seized
with a feeling of nausea, which speedily augmented into violent vomiting.
Some effervescing medicines, which had previously been prescribed, as well
as everything else, even to a little cold water, was ejected the moment
it was swallowed. Visiting her at 2 o'clock to-day, I found her sitting
up in bed, vomiting violently: she was exceedingly exhausted: her skin
was cold, pulse depressed, and tongue foul. The retching recurred
every few minutes-she complained of pain in the pit of the stomach, and
a sensation of deadly nausea. I instantly placed 3 globules of Tartar
Emetic on her tongue, and left a few more dissolved in water, to be
taken every hour till relief was obtained. There was no return what-
ever of the vomiting after she took the globules, and in a few hours the
nausea also ceased.
The foregoing case-which, be it observed, was not produced by Tartar
Emetic-but which yielded so magically to that medicine when adminis-
tered in infinitesimal doses, affords a good illustration of the fundamental
law of Homœopathy, that "like cures like," or "that the symptoms of
the remedy must correspond with those of the disease," or, more fully
still—“ that remedies cure diseases by virtue of their power to produce
similar symptoms in the healthy body.”
4
74
HOOPING-COUGH.
to thought, the symptoms are to the disease-the outward
and sensible expression, of an inward condition. Neglecting
the light and guidance which these afford us, we are left to
follow the promptings of imagination and custom, which will
infallibly lead us astray. Following them, as the faithful
guide which nature has voluntarily placed at our service, they
will as unerringly regulate our practice, as does the compass
the course of the mariner.
The Allopathic mode of proceeding, when hooping-cough is
complicated with bronchitis, or pneumonia, is the same as
that which is adopted in those diseases when they appear in
their simple form; such as bleeding, blistering, antimonials,
and calomel. The vascular excitement attendant upon hoop-
ing-cough, though it may from time to time be subdued, is
exceedingly prone, from the peculiar nature of the malady, to
be as frequently renewed. To-day you flatter yourself that
you have annihilated your enemy: to-morrow, phoenix-like,
it rises from its ashes to mock your fruitless efforts. The
effect upon the already debilitated constitution of the patient,
of such a lengthened contest, conducted with Allopathic wea-
pons, may easily be imagined-repeated leechings, repeated
blisters, repeated emetics! The frame of a Hercules could
scarcely withstand them: how can the helpless infant hope
to triumph!
It is with regard to this question of debility, arising from
the protracted existence of the disease, and the frequent
recurrence of inflammatory attacks, that the excellence of
the Homœopathic system is displayed. Making no call upon
the strength of the patient, but being, on the contrary, purely
curative, and, therefore, invigorating, the Homœopathic reme-
dies may be repeated, and continued, not only with impunity,
but with the most decided advantage, as often, and as long,
as any severe symptoms demand their employment.
In this we possess the great desideratum, of which medical
men have always felt the need-the means of converting
hooping-cough from one of the most intractable, dangerous,
HOOPING-COUGH.
75
and fatal of complaints, into one as manageable, and little to
be dreaded, as any other acute disease.
CASE I.-Edward N-, aged 13 years.
December 2d, 1847.-Has had hooping-cough the last two months.
There did not appear to be much inflammatory action till a week ago.
He then became so alarmingly ill as to induce his parents to call in a
medical gentleman, who attended him up to this morning, when he pro-
nounced his condition to be so hopeless that he could not live the day
out. He declined prescribing any medicine, but, as a last resource,
ordered a large blister to be applied to the chest. The mother, much
alarmed, sought my assistance. On visiting him, I found him labouring
under the following aggravated symptoms of hooping-cough, conjoined
with acute bronchitis. He is lying across his mother's lap, lethargic,
stupid, and drowsy, and if roused for a moment he instantly relapses
into a state of insensibility. The whole face is puffed, bloated, and
livid. His breathing is short, rapid, and catching, and attended with
loud rattling of mucus in the chest and throat. His pulse is exceedingly
quick, and beating tumultuously. His skin is hot, and he has an in-
satiable thirst for cold water. The fits of coughing are very violent, and
each one appears as if it must inevitably end in suffocation.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 6th, every hour, alternately.
3d. He is sitting up on his mother's knee, looking intelligent and
cheerful. There is scarcely any excitement of system remaining. The
breathing is calm and deep, and attended with only slight mucous râle.
His skin is cool; pulse regular, quiet, and subsided in force. There is
very little thirst, and no confusion of intellect. He takes some light
food, and appears altogether better than for some time past. Having
made up their minds yesterday morning to lose their child, it is no
matter of surprise that the parents should be wonder-struck at this
change, and regard it, considering the shortness of the time and the sim-
plicity of the means employed, as almost amounting to a miracle.
He continued the same medicine, at considerably longer intervals.
From this time his restoration was rapid, and interrupted only by one
other slight attack of inflammation, which occurred about a month after,
and was subdued in a few hours. Naturally delicate and scrofulous, he
had become still further debilitated by the hooping-cough, before I saw
him. He was therefore kept under care for some time longer, in order
76
HOOPING-COUGH.
to restore the general health, which by a little careful treatment was
soon effected.
CASE II-Mary Ann C-, aged 23 years. A stout, florid child.
March 17th, 1847.-Has been labouring under this attack two days.
She has already undergone active treatment: been leeched, put into
warm baths, had castor oil, &c., with no beneficial result; but, on the
contrary, she is now so alarmingly ill as to compel me to give a very
qualified opinion as to her recovery. She breathes exceedingly rapidly,
performing 70 respirations in the minute, each inspiration being attended
with a loud noise, as though the windpipe was inflamed and narrowed.
There is a short, dry, barking, shrill cough. The eyelids have this after-
noon become inflamed and swollen, and discharge a quantity of thick
matter. Her pulse is very rapid, and she is "burnt up with fever."
Take Aconite 6th, every hour.
18th. The improvement in her condition since last night is such as
almost to lead one to question her identity. After the second dose of
medicine she fell into a sound sleep. This morning she is sitting up,
cheerful, happy, and playing with her toys. Her eyes are bright and
clear, and free from discharge. Her breathing is nearly natural, and
her skin cool. There is only a little thirst and loose cough remaining,
of all the alarming symptoms which yesterday threatened her very
existence.
19th. A slight return of the discharge from the eyes, and the cough
continues, and becomes more paroxysmal in its character.;
Take Mercurius, every four hours.
20th.—All the inflammatory symptoms have disappeared; and genuine,
distinct hooping-cough manifests itself.
She has Belladonna 6th, three times a day, under the influence of
which the disease speedily and entirely subsided.
CASE III.-S. N-, a boy, aged 23 years.
Has had hooping-cough three weeks. The mother is very nervous
about him, having lost his sister with the same disease not long since.
In that case there was inflammation of the lungs and convulsions, and
active treatment, such as leechings, &c., was employed.
March 17th, 1847.-The paroxysms of coughing are very violent.
HOOPING-COUGH.
77
The last three days he has had symptoms of inflammation of the lungs.
He has quick, short, catching respirations (55 in the minute). His pulse
is very rapid; skin burning hot; he is drowsy, and heavy in the head,
and flushed and congested in face.
Take Aconite 6th, every two hours.
18th.-Yesterday as ill as he could well be, he is to-day a different
child. He is now sitting up on his mother's lap, seemingly well. He
had a pretty good night. His breathing varies from the natural standard,
only in being a little too quick, and somewhat irregular. His pulse is
good; skin cool; thirst abated.
20th.—Much the same: has bad nights. Fits of coughing severe.
Take Belladonna 6th, every night.
22d.-Greatly improved. His cough is much less frequent and
severe. He runs about the room, and joins in the gambols of the other
children.
23d.—In a violent fit of coughing he became strongly convulsed.
He remains now, half an hour after, very heavy about the eyes, and
drowsy, stupid, and hot in the head.
Take Cuprum Acet. 6th, directly, and repeat it in four hours.
24th. He is to-day better than he has been before during the attack.
All traces of inflammation and head symptoms have vanished.
Take Belladonna, three times a day.
26th. Still improving; has very little cough.
31st.-Cured.
A few doses of Drosera.
Before closing this subject, I wish to direct the reader's atten-
tion to one particular stage in the progress of hooping-cough,
at which children of a scrofulous habit, in whom the disease
has been neglected or mismanaged, are almost sure to arrive.
I allude to a state of extreme debility, connected with, and
probably arising from, chronic inflammation of the lungs or
bronchi. Now, as this condition is not unfrequently induced
by the repeated use of those depletory measures to which
the Allopathist is forced to resort for the purpose of subduing
inflammatory action, their further employment, to remove
the still lingering remains of that condition, are of course
inadmissible. What curative resource, then, does the prac-
78
HOOPING-COUGH.
titioner of the old-school possess, upon which, under these
circumstances, he can fall back? None. As was done in
the two cases I am now about to relate, he can only preach
patience and resignation: excellent philosophy, truly, when
the case is hopeless—but a very poor substitute for the life of
a child, when death is not necessarily inevitable. That such
an event in the majority of instances is not inevitable, I have
had repeated and ample proof, not only in the treatment of
cases which were throughout under my own care, but more
strikingly so still, in the favorable termination of others which
had been previously treated by Allopathic physicians, and pro-
nounced by them beyond the reach of their art, but which
subsequently recovered under the use of Homoeopathic reme-
dies. The two following are instances of this kind.
CASE IV.-S. T-, aged 2 years.
From birth tainted with scrofula, which has continued to develope
itself rapidly since she was weaned. Mesenteric disease is the leading
form it has assumed. Her abdomen is immensely large and protuberant,
and the rest of her body emaciated and diminutive. Her appetite is
generally ravenous; she is very thirsty, particularly in the night; her
bowels, the secretion from which is very unhealthy, are commonly re-
laxed four or five times in the twenty-four hours. She has from time to
time had severe attacks of illness-bronchitis, threatening of water on
the brain, &c., under which, had she been treated Allopathically, she
must inevitably have sunk, but from which, with the aid of Homoeopathic
remedies, and the most sedulous nursing, she has hitherto recovered. In
the intervals, I was unable to persuade the parents (deterred by the
seeming hopelessness of the case) to persevere in the use of the proper
remedies, for the relief of the scrofulous affection.
It was upon this exhausted and diseased frame, that, five months ago,
hooping-cough made its attack. It was attended from the outset with a
considerable amount of fever and bronchial irritation, which yielded to
Aconite, Belladonna, Mercurius, &c. From that time to the present
date, I was only occasionally consulted. The disease pursued its course
rather severely, and still further reduced her little stock of strength.
HOOPING-COUGH.
79
A return of inflammatory symptoms in the chest now appeared to banish
even what faint hope might have before existed of her ultimate recovery,
The parents, yielding naturally and properly, to the persuasions of some.
friends, took her to a physician, who makes the diseases of women and
children his peculiar study. He at once pronounced the case hopeless.
Under these circumstances the child came again under my care, and,
resting on my experience of the power of Homoeopathic remedies, I
ventured to offer a different opinion to that just stated. I examined the
chest carefully, and though the bronchitis had existed some time, was still
severe and universal, and the chest loaded with mucus, I was satisfied
that there was no necessarily destructive process going on in the lungs.
She was in other respects in a most unpromising state: languid aud
powerless; feverish and thirsty; perspiring at night; relaxed in the
bowels; loathing food; and coughing violently.
I prescribed Phosphoric Acid, at first twice, subsequently once a day,
and under the action of this medicine alone, at the end of two months,
she had lost every trace of the hooping-cough and bronchitis; the hectic
and night sweats had disappeared; she had regained her appetite; and
her bowels had put on a much more regular and healthy action. Her
general health improved in proportion, and at the present tlme (beginning
of September, 1848,) she runs alone for the first time, and in other ways
holds out every prospect of entirely out-growing the scrofulous disease
which has so long rendered her life precarious.
June, 1858.-She is now a well grown girl.
CASE VI.-K. G-, aged 5 years. When healthy, is fat, and
square built; having large head, protuberant joint bones, un-
steady gait, and other signs of a scrofulous constitution.
September, 1848.—Six months ago was attacked with hooping-cough,
which continued unattended with any urgent symptoms for the first
twelve weeks; at the end of that time the fits of coughing became more
severe, febrile symptoms manifested themselves, and bronchitis super-
vened;
she vomited all her food, took to spitting blood, and was in other
respects exceedingly ill. Several remedies were administered, with no
marked benefit. Her condition at length became so alarming, as to in-
duce her mother to take her to a physician, who pronounced her lungs
to be in such a state of disease, that she could not recover.
He pre-
scribed an ordinary mixture of paregoric, mucilage, nitre, syrup of
80
HOOPING-COUGH.
poppies, &c. Giving this a fortnight's trial, and deriving from it no ad-
vantage, she was taken to a consulting surgeon, who gave a very similar
opinion, and prescribed nearly the same kind of medicine.
At this juncture she came under my care. I found her exceedingly
emaciated and weak; the cough still existed in unmitigated violence,
each paroxysm being attended with vomiting, and the ejection from the
lungs of a quantity of blood and phlegm, and leaving her for hours after
languid and exhausted. Her breathing was short, quick, and
laboured; on examining the chest, the lungs were discovered to be
loaded with mucus; the loud crepitating rattle superceding all the
other sounds; she had no appetite; was thirsty, and perspired profusely
in the night.
Directed to take Drosera 12th, and Phosphoric Acid 12th, alternately,
at intervals of twelve hours.
Decided amendment manifested itself with the commencement of this
treatment; her appetite speedily returned; and with it her strength;
the cough became less frequent and violent, and unattended with vomit-
ing or spitting of blood; the breathing became calm, deep, and free;
the perspiration ceased, and her skin resumed its natural temperature.
At the present date, having continued the treatment two months, she
retains no trace of her disease, and is the fattest and healthiest child of
a large family.
INFLAMMATION OF THE MOUTH.
HAVING, in the preceding pages, illustrated the power of
Homœopathic remedies in subduing some of the most impor-
tant diseases of the organs of respiration, we come now to the
consideration of another class of disorders, viz.-those affecting
the organs of digestion: the mouth, throat, stomach, liver, and
intestines.
The mouth, in common with the rest of the body, is liable to
a variety of diseases. Partaking of the leading characteristics
of the other portions of the alimentary canal, it is, like them,
most frequently affected with inflammation and ulceration. The
subject is introduced here, not because inflammation of the
mouth is generally to be regarded as a serious or very acute
disorder, but because its treatment affords a good example of
the application of the Homœopathic law. Bearing in mind the
symptoms produced by mercury, when administered in large
or salivating doses, it will at once be understood, by those
who are acquainted with Homœopathy, why, in minute doses
it was the proper remedy in the two subjoined cases, in
which the disease did not originate in the abuse of that
medicine: otherwise it would not have been the proper
remedy.
CASE I.-James I-, aged 35.
June 28th, 1847.-Has had four similar attacks. The whole of the
membrane lining the mouth is intensely red and inflamed. The inside of
the cheeks, the lips, and gums are covered with virulent, burning ulcers.
The saliva pours in streams from his mouth, and the stench from his
breath is intolerable. He can swallow nothing but liquids, and those
not without the utmost pain. His teeth are all loose, and feel as if they
would drop out; they are covered with a soft, white, offensive secretion.
The eyes also partake of the irritation, being injected with red blood,
4 §
82
INFLAMMATION OF THE MOUTH.
and are swimming in tears. He is very thirsty; his pulse is quick;
tongue thickly coated. He has not taken any medicine lately.
Aconite 3d, directly; followed by Mercurius 6th, three times a day.
30th. Some melioration of most of the symptoms, though his mouth
is still in a deplorable condition.
Take Sulphur 3d, directly. To-morrow commence with Acid
Sulphuricum 12th, three times a day.
July 3d.-Greatly relieved; not nearly so much inflammation, and the
flow of saliva is diminished.
Take Mercurius 6th, night and morning.
7th.-The disease has almost disappeared; the mouth is comparatively
well.
Repeat the medicine. Then Sulphur, two doses. Cured.
CASE II.-John P—, aged 12. Has been ill one week.
Commonly healthy.
April 17th, 1847.-He had a cold in the first instance, followed by
the present attack, which has continued to get more severe up to the
present time. His mouth and face are in a miserable condition. He
sits writhing with agony; the saliva pours from his mouth, and his
breath is most offensive; the cheeks are swollen and the corners of the
mouth ulcerated and scabby. On examining the mouth internally, it
presents a pitiable spectacle; it is intensely inflamed and studded in
different parts, especially around the lower gums, with grey, burning
ulcers. The tongue is thickly coated, white and yellow. He has no
appetite; is thirsty; suffers from headache, and is greatly pros-
trated in strength. He took two pills a day or two ago, after this
attack set in; beyond this he has had no medicine; it is therefore non-
mercurial.
Take Mercurius 6th, every four hours.
19th.-Much better: "still in pain, but nothing to what it was.”
There is not half so much inflammation; the breath has lost its fetor,
and he can take food at pleasure.
Continue the medicine.
With this, in two or three days, he perfectly recovered.
Aphthæ, or ulcers occurring in the mouths of children from various
causes, yield with equal facility to the use of proper remedies.
INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT.
SEVERE in its symptoms, and of very frequent occurrence,
there are few diseases which cause a greater amount of tem-
porary suffering than inflammation of the throat, or quinsy.
This is due mainly to the complicated offices in which the
throat takes a part. The acts of swallowing, breathing, and
speaking, are at times so much impeded as to threaten suffo-
cation. This danger, however, is more apparent that real, since,
depending as it does upon the swelling which attends suppu-
ration or "gathering," relief is nearest at hand at the very
moment when the danger appears to be most imminent: the
abscess bursts, and the interrupted functions are instantly re-
stored. This is the way in which nature, unassisted by art,
most commonly conducts these cases to a successful, though
protracted, issue. It is the duty of the medical man, by ap-
propriate treatment, to afford nature such assistance as shall
enable her to bring about the same result by a shorter and less
agonising process: by inducing a subsidence of the inflamma-
tion before suppuration has commenced. This object the Allo-
pathist endeavours to effect by bleeding in the arm, when the
patient is young and plethoric, and the symptoms run high;
by leeches in most cases; and in all, by blisters, and active
purgation. That, in the majority of cases, these means are
totally inadequate to the end they are intended to fulfil, no
medical man, who submits his experience of their efficacy to an
impartial examination, can deny. In obedience to the routine
practice of the old school, I formerly employed these remedies
in hundreds of instances; and so far from finding them arrest
the disease, they as often, if not oftener, prolonged its dura-
tion, by delaying, without preventing, the suppurative process.
Though a serious evil, this is by no means the only one that
84
INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT.
results from the old mode of treatment. It is not an uncommon
thing to see patients, especially delicate women, emerge from
these attacks in a state of debility, little short of that which
follows a case of fever, or any other protracted and dangerous
disease. That this is due, not so much to the intensity of the
disorder, as to the exhausting effects of the treatment, my own
observation had led me strongly to suspect, long before I re-
linquished the old system. Subsequent experience in Homœo-
pathic practice, has thoroughly confirmed the correctness of
that suspicion. It is worthy of remark, in the Homœopathic
treatment of acute diseases generally, that although a local
affection may continue to run its course, the constitutional
symptoms which arise from it, and constitute the patient's chief
source of distress, speedily subside, and leave the system com-
paratively undisturbed. In no case is this more strikingly
apparent than in inflammation of the throat. Even in cases of
the most obstinate kind, where suppuration becomes inevitable,
after twenty-four hours' use of the medicines, the system re-
sumes its usual condition: there remains scarcely any fever or
thirst; the head becomes easy; the pulse good; the skin cool;
the abscess forms and bursts; and the patient, at the end
of the attack, finds himself only so much weaker than he was
at his commencement, as that he has been unable, in the interim,
to swallow his usual quantity of food. With an appetite ready
prepared to make good this deficiency, he loses, almost in a
few hours, the evidences of having gone through one of these
formidable attacks. This result alone would be a great advance
upon the "old style," but the advantage does not end here.
The action of Homœopathic remedies, in arresting recent cases,
is so strikingly beneficial, as to be almost incredible to those
who have not witnessed their effects. This is exemplified in
the following cases.
INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT.
85
CASE I.-I. K—, aged 16 years.
October 11th, 1847.-Felt ill last night. This morning got up with
a violent headache, and pains in all his limbs, and shivering; has hot
skin; quick pulse; much thirst. His throat is very sore; he is unable
to swallow anything. Both tonsils are very red and swollen; his voice
is thick, and he has a tickling cough.
Take Aconite 3d, directly, then Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
13th. No sore throat whatever, and in other respects perfectly well.
He ate his breakfast very comfortably yesterday morning.
CASE II.—Mrs. E. G―, aged 29 years.
June 16th, 1847.-Yesterday forenoon seized with shivering, which
compelled her to go to bed, where she now remains. She was at the
same time attacked with pains in her back and limbs, intense headache,
and sore throat, and has had heats and chills running through her ever
since. Both tonsils are much swollen and inflamed; she can swallow
nothing: not even liquids without much difficulty. Her pulse is rapid ;
skin dry, and burning hot; there is incessant thirst; white, foul tongue.
She vomited last night; and got no rest on account of the pain in her
head.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 3d, every four hours, alternately.
17th. At noon up, dressed, and occupied in household matters. The
constitutional symptoms have entirely subsided, and with the exception
of a little weakness, there is scarcely a trace of her disease. A trifling
redness may be detected about the fauces, and the tonsils are still a little
enlarged, but nothing to cause her inconvenience.
Continue the Belladonna a few hours longer. Cured.
CASE III-A married woman, aged 28 years.
October 8th, 1847.-Was taken ill four days ago with headache and
sore throat. The constitutional fever, &c., have subsided, and there re-
mains now an amazingly enlarged state of both tonsils. They are about
the size of walnuts, and completely meet across the throat, impeding de-
glutition to such an extent, as to render the swallowing a little liquid
86
INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT.
almost an impossibility. On the anterior part of the glands are a number
of small, grey ulcers. She is very weak.
She took some aperient medicine of her own accord, and yesterday
consulted a medical gentleman, who advised that the tonsils should
be scarified; on her objecting to this, he gave a stimulating embroca-
tion, to be applied externally. Finding no relief, she attends me to-day,
and has
Lachesis 12th, three times a day.
11th. She returns, exceedingly delighted at her improvement. She
got ease the first day, and next morning felt little or no inconvenience.
The tonsils are only slightly enlarged, and the ulcers have entirely
healed. She enjoys her food, and her health is altogether better; in
short, she feels quite well.
Continue the medicine.
14th. She calls to express her gratitude for her speedy and perfect
restoration.
CASE IV.—Mrs. C-, aged 26 years.
June 20th, 1847.-Has been poorly with a cold the last three days.
Yesterday morning felt a soreness in the throat, which has rapidly in-
creased to its present painful condition. Both tonsils, but more parti-
cularly the right, are red, inflamed, and much swollen. She cannot
swallow even a drop of liquid without great pain, which causes her, in
the effort, to lower the head to one side, and make the peculiar, ugly
grimace, which characterises the deglutition of persons labouring under
sore throat. She is very thirsty; has headache, hot skin, quick pulse,
and pains in every limb. She got up about two hours ago, but intends
going to bed again directly, as she feels dizzy, chilly, and so weak as to
be unable to sit.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 3d, alternately every four hours.
21st. Nearly free from all constitutional suffering, but the tonsils are
enlarged, and ulcerated in several spots.
The mouth and throat are
clogged with a quantity of tenacious mucus.
Take Mercurius 6th, every four hours.
22d.-Better in health; throat still troubles her nearly as much,
except that it is cleaner and more free from mucus.
Take Lachesis 12th, every four hours.
23d.—Great amendment. Her throat feels totally different; she can
INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT.
87
swallow without impediment, and enjoys her food. The ulcerated spots
have nearly healed.
Continue the medicine.
25th. She is quite well, and expresses, in strong terms, her satis-
faction at what she considers a very speedy termination of the
attack; for, like the previous case, she had suffered greatly on several
former occasions, from the same complaint; and had been accustomed
to be leeched, and blistered, and to take strong purgative medicines,
which always induced extreme debility, and led to a long and tiresome
recovery.
CASE V.-Miss M—, aged 27 years.
February 14th, 1854, 11 p.m.-Yesterday and to-day being very
severely cold, a biting wind blowing from the north, and this lady having
been exposed to it, was seized at 8 o'clock this evening with a shivering
fit. She went to bed; soreness of the throat soon manifested itself. It is
already considerably inflamed; the uvula, arch of the pharynx and ton-
sils being very red and swollen. She feels constant pricking pain
shooting up both sides towards the ears; almost entire loss of
voice, and difficulty in swallowing. She is feverish, and has a quick
pulse. She took a dose of Aconite of her own accord two hours
since.
To have Apis 3d, every two hours.
15th.-Has passed a tolerable night, and is much relieved to-day. The
throat has gradually mended in feeling from the first; is less inflamed,
though still very red; her voice is clearer; pulse less rapid, and she can
swallow more easily.
Continue.
16th. Very greatly better. Swallows with tolerable comfort; speaks
in her natural voice; and in health feels pretty well. Still some redness
and swelling of the left tonsil.
Continue Apis every four hours.
17th. She is up and dressed, and busied with her usual occupations,
feeling well.
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
WHEN we consider the close sympathy existing between the
stomach and the organs by which it is surrounded, the impor-
tant and complicated function which it has to perform, and the
numberless influences, both mental and physical, to the opera-
tion of which it is subject, we cannot help wondering, various
as are its disorders, that they are not both more numerous and
of more frequent occurrence. Our astonishment is not dimi-
nished, but the contrary, when we learn that there are few
other organs of the body so rarely, acutely, and seriously,
affected. We have in this a beautiful example of the preser-
vative care of nature. If the stomach be, as at first sight it
would appear, more than ordinarily exposed to the exciting
causes of disease, it is at the same time endowed with an orga-
nization, proportionately well calculated to resist their noxious
influence. Without such an arrangement, it must inevitably
become more deeply and permanently injured than it is, by the
worse than irrational purposes it has to subserve: I allude to
the abuse of the good things of this life-over indulgence in
eating and drinking--" dietary indiscretions as they are
mildly termed. At once the most fruitful source of dyspeptic
and other stomach derangements which mar the enjoyment of
the bon-vivant, these indulgences lead to the scarcely less per-
nicious practice of resorting to large quantities of antacid,
aperient, alterative, and other so called corrective medicines.
Fortunately, most of these disorders are neither serious nor
deep-seated: time and temperance are generally quite equal to
their removal. The stomach is, however, occasionally liable
to attacks of so formidable a nature, as to demand the
prompt interference of the medical man. They are mostly
>>
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
89
inflammatory; and are treated of under the generic term
of "gastritis." It is of this we are now about to speak.
Availing myself of this opportunity to offer a few remarks
upon the comparative advantages of large and small doses of
medicine, it may be observed, that there is, perhaps, no surer
proof of the accuracy of a new doctrine, than the fact, that
those who oppose it, are reduced to the necessity of employing
ridicule, in the place of argument, in their efforts to controvert
it, or arrest its progress. This is peculiarly the case with
Homœopathy. Unable to detect any unsoundness in its doc-
trines, or inconsistencies in its practical details, its opponents
have generally descended to the unfair alternative, of endea-
vouring to throw ridicule upon the whole system, by exciting
a laugh against the smallness of the dose in which the medicines
are administered. The attempt, however, has signally failed of
its anticipated effect: nor is there any fear that it will ever
meet with better success. If, when she rested upon the strong
faith of the lion-hearted Hahnemann alone for her very
existence, Homoeopathy could triumph over all antagonism,
little has she to apprehend from the puny shafts of ridicule,
now, that, in the place of one champion, she can boast of
her legions.
Those who know nothing of Homœopathy beyond its name,
and the fact that its remedies are exhibited in exceedingly
minute quantities, generally suppose it to be a system of medi-
cine, differing from the old only in this latter respect. A greater
mistake could not be committed. The small dose, it is true,
has from custom, and experience of its superiority, come to be
regarded as an essential part of Homœopathic practice; but,
so far from forming an integral part of the Homœopathic doc-
trine, or having originated in any caprice or fanciful theory of
Hahnemann, it is notorious that he commenced, and for some
time continued to practice the new system with the ordinary
doses of medicines. Close and careful observation alone di-
vulged to him the fact that medicines, which, administered in
the customary mode and doses produced but slight effect,
90
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
when administered in the same quantities, in accordance with
the Homœopathic law, excited the system in a manner too
powerful to be borne with impunity. He began, consequently,
to diminish the dose, and, as he ascended in the scale, disco-
vered, to his astonishment, that not only did his medicines.
lose all their irritating properties, but actually cured diseases
more rapidly and certainly than when exhibited more CO-
piously. It appears, therefore, that the difference consists
more in the doctrine than the dose; that experience, not fancy,
suggested the change; and that Hahnemann adopted it, not
from choice, but necessity.
"Truth is so terrible when exhibited in its concentrated
form of a principle, and involves such consequences, that all
the energies of man are required to test it in the furnace of
human passions, ere it can be purged of its dross and fitted for
use. Mankind feel that it approaches them as a conqueror,
and they receive it as an enemy."
1
This beautiful passage furnishes a clue to the otherwise
unaccountable spirit of obstinate incredulity, and undying
hostility, which Hahnemann's great discovery has every-
where encountered. Had half the ingenuity which has been
displayed in devising arguments against the Homœopathic
system, been devoted to a candid and truth-seeking examina-
tion of its principles, we should not now be doomed to hear
the frivolous and oft refuted objections against the small dose
which still meet us at every turn.
It is not my intention to waste time upon all these absur-
dities. One only-as untenable as the rest-because it exerts
a more extensive influence than any other, demands a moment's
attention. It is based upon what is called the "unreasonable-
ness" of the thing. Persons complain of the difficulty they
feel in bringing themselves to believe in the power of the
infinitesimal dose, because we cannot demonstrate, nor they
understand, its mode of operation. But to reject a new truth
C
Quarterly Review,' No. cxliii, p. 192.
1
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
91
on account of its unfathomable depth, and withhold from it
our assent, simply because it passes our comprehension, is in
the highest degree unphilosophical, and totally inconsistent.
with that submission of our reason to the requirements of
faith, which we are constantly called upon to exercise in a
thousand other instances. Every natural phenomenon pre-
sents the same difficulty, and makes the same demand upon
our credulity. To the Allopathist who may urge such an ob-
jection, it will be sufficient to reply, that when he shall be
able to explain the modus operandi of a dose of epsom-salts,
castor-oil, or any other drug, then-but not till then-will he
be entitled to ask for an explanation of the action of the Ho-
mœopathic dose.
The whole subject, in short, resolves itself into a question
of evidence. In this respect the two opposing parties are on
an equality. No one will deny that any statement, capable of
being confirmed by personal observation, would present as
irresistible a claim upon our belief, if supported by the con-
current testimony of five hundred intelligent and independent
observers, as it would if its truth were attested by five thou-
sand. In both instances, the numbers would be too great to
admit of the possible intervention of those sources of error
which might invalidate the testimony of only a few witnesses.
Let the larger number represent the Allopathists, and the
lesser the Homoeopathists-we find both parties equally
qualified to observe facts and appreciate their value-both
founding their faith upon the results of experience, and affirm-
ing, with equal earnestness the positive effects derivable from
their respective doses! How shall we dispute the validity of
their evidence? If that cannot be done-neither can we
award our confidence to the one party without extending it to
the other: we must believe both sides, or neither.
Passing by a host of interesting facts and arguments, com-
monly adduced in support of Hahnemann's plan of prescribing
medicines in small doses, we proceed to a brief consideration
of two or three, which bear more directly upon the question,
92
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
whether extremely minute quantities of matter, when intro-
duced into the system, possess the power of influencing its
functions.
The first example-in which the substances are not swal-
lowed, but merely applied to the olfactory nerves-is afforded
in the overpowering effects produced upon some constitutions
by the odoriferous particles of musk, or flowers, or the scent.
arising from the presence of certain animals. A second is sup-
plied by the absorption of marsh miasmata, the virus of cholera,
typhus, smallpox, and other infectants.
The following example came partially under my own obser-
vation. A strong, healthy country female, was stung in the
arm by a wasp. In less than ten minutes the limb became
intensely painful, and, with the whole body from head to foot,
swollen and as red as scarlet. The tongue became also much
enlarged, obstructed her speech, and threatened suffocation.
Her brain became affected, and her sight confused and indis-
tinct. It was some days before she thoroughly recovered. In
each of these cases how powerful the effect, yet how infinitely
small the dose! Did the most powerful microscope ever
detect, the finest balance ever weigh, the nicest test ever dis-
cover, the odour of flowers, the marsh miasm, the infection of
fever, or the venom of a wasp? Let those who hesitate at the
doctrine of infinitesimals, and deny to Hahnemann's gentle
quantities, the benign influence of aiding nature in subduing
disease, weigh these facts calmly and dispassionately, and ask
themselves whether it may not be their own crude notions, and
custom, and prejudice, which have converted the Homœopathic
dose into a stumbling-block!
There are some considerations of a physiological and prac-
tical nature, which have a still more direct bearing upon this
subject.
Of the former class is that which is based upon the unde-
niable axiom, that nothing has a right to pass into the stomach,
which has not previously obtained the sanction of the mouth.
The stomach being intended to receive nothing but what is
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
93
:
perfectly congenial to it, in the shape of food and drink, and
not to come in contact with anything, which, by its irritating
and pungent properties, might injure its structure, the mouth
is endowed with a sense of taste, in order to ensure the fulfil-
ment of those conditions. By a wise provision, nature has
imparted to all substances designed for the nourishment of the
body, such flavours as render them agreeable to the palate :
these obtain a ready and welcome passport to the stomach.
Those substances, on the other hand, which would prove in-
jurious, are invested with a repulsive flavour, which, being
instantly detected by the taste, forms a barrier to their intro-
duction into the stomach. The conclusion is obvious-in
every dose of nauseous medicine we swallow, we do violence
to nature. Introducing into the stomach, by a sudden gulp,
the enemy which could by no fair means gain admittance
there, we cheat the sentinel placed in our mouth for our pro-
tection.
A stronger argument still, in favour of small doses, is in-
volved in the consideration of the practical disadvantages of the
plan pursued by the Allopathists. The largeness of their dose
constitutes, in many instances, an effectual hinderance to any
salutary action which the medicines might otherwise possibly
exert, even though not administered in accordance with Ho-
mœopathic rules. What effect does an ounce of epsom-salts,
the common dose of that drug, produce upon the tongue ? Is
it not that of powerful astringency? Is this action less
powerful when the medicine comes in contact with the stomach?
Let the nausea, vomiting, pain, and prostration of strength,
which so frequently ensue, answer the question! It is in the
act of swallowing the doses that the non-professional person
forms an estimate of their comparative advantages. Compared
with the disgust engendered by the approach to the lips of
the nauseous draught, other arguments against the Allopathic
dose dwindle into insignificance. The loathsomeness of its
drachms forms one of the strongest drawbacks against which
medicine, as commonly practised, has to contend. Persons
94
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
cannot (and no wonder) dissociate in their minds the practitioner
from the repulsive measures by which he endeavours to effect
his salutary objects. Many persons, taking a retrospect of a
past illness, regard the bitter draughts they were compelled
to swallow, as constituting a part of their suffering, scarcely
more endurable than the pains of the disease itself. The pre-
judicial influence which this disagreeable necessity at times
exercises over the progress of the malady must not be forgotten.
Adult patients are not unfrequently injuriously excited by the
arrival of the hour for repeating their dose-and the almost
total impossibility, in many cases, of surmounting the anti-
pathy of children in this respect, and the terrible excitement
caused by fruitless efforts to do so, are too well known to all
who have been so unfortunate as to have the management of
them in sickness.
The evils of the large dose do not end when it is swallowed.
The Allopathist gives his medicines in such quantities that
both he and his patient are disappointed, if what are called
"sensible effects" do not follow. New symptoms are expected
to arise, being for the most part of a distressing kind, such as
pains in the stomach, nausea, vomiting, headache, thirst, and
an infinity of other sensations of an anomalous and less
striking character. These potent remedies may produce an
aggravation of the symptoms of the disease, proverbially un-
derstood by the patient as the "searching of the remedy,"
and persons who have been habituated to taking Allopathic
medicines, are so accustomed to experience these effects, that
it is not easy to persuade them that any good can result from
the non-perturbing Homœopathic dose.
Opposed to this mass of inconsistencies and mysticism, stands
Hahnemann's clear and simple plan. In the first place, the
dose is perfectly tasteless. Dissolved in water it imparts not
the slightest flavour. Placed upon the tongue it melts and
passes into the stomach without the patient being conscious of
its presence.
In the second place, when swallowed it entails no evil con-
།
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
95
sequences. Beyond the abatement of his sufferings, the patient
experiences no sensible evidence of its action. Purposely too
small to generate any symptoms of its own, it does not in the
least degree mystify those of the disease. The practitioner
knows that every change, not favorable in its character, be-
longs to the disorder, and not to the remedy. Using no means
which can either harass his patient or aggravate the disease,
he is at all times prepared to give an opinion, proximately
correct, as to the progress and probable termination of the
malady.
Practised in this manner, instead of being a dreaded instru-
ment of torture, medicine becomes what it was designed to be
by its Beneficent Author-an unalloyed blessing to his suffering
creatures.
These remarks are suggested by the disease now under
consideration. One of the most distressing and intolerable
symptoms is incessant vomiting: the least thing, even a drop
of cold water, is often instantly rejected. If, then, in conse-
quence of its irritability, the stomach is unable to retain such
a simple and innoxious body, it is absurd to expect its reten-
tion of a mass of nauseous medicines administered in large
and unsparing quantities. An insurmountable barrier being
thus raised against the introduction of direct remedies, the
medical man of the old school is forced to rely upon
the
secondary influence of lecches, blisters, mustard poultices,
and other outward, and, consequently, less efficient measures.
I recollect having had, many years ago, a case of this kind
under my own care, in which the sickness was so protracted
and uncontrollable, that at length the only prospect of appeas-
ing it, and so saving the life of the patient, presented itself
in a total withholding of every kind of ingesta. The result
justified the means. After a few hours' abstinence-rendered
almost intolerable by intense thirst-the irritability of the
stomach had so far subsided as to admit of the introduction
of bland and cooling liquids. A further lapse of time was,
however, necessary ere medicines, though prepared in the
96
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
mildest form, could be resumed-showing, that not only had
these latter done nothing towards subduing the disease, but,
on the contrary, had absolutely contributed to its prolonga-
tion.
Such a circumstance-by no means uncommon-affords the
strongest evidence in support of Hahnemann's mode of admi-
nistering medicines. Even in these urgent cases, the small,
tasteless Homoeopathic dose, placed upon the tongue, allowed
to dissolve there and descend into the stomach with the saliva,
may be administered with as much facility as in any other
disease. Thus, while we secure the full advantage of applying
our remedies directly to the part affected, we obviate the in-
jurious effects of the large dose, to say nothing of the painful
external remedies to which we have already alluded.
CASE I.—Mrs. C—, aged 26 years. Generally healthy.
January 18th, 1847.-Has been poorly some time, with loss of appe-
tite, nausea, and occasional vomiting; she has been wasting, and getting
very weak, to counteract which, she has taken a variety of stimulating
things, both as food and drink.
Twenty-four hours ago she was seized with a violent shivering fit,
succeeded by high fever, and severe pain in the pit of the stomach. She
is now in bed, lying on her back, from which position she cannot move,
on account of the pain in the stomach. Pressure at that part causes so
much suffering, that she shrinks even at the approach of the hand;
deep inspiration also, or the least cough, increases the pain to an in-
tolerable degree. Her tongue is foul and perfectly dry; there is intense
longing for cold drinks, but as soon as anything is swallowed it creates
nausea, and is instantly ejected. Her pulse is small, and very rapid;
her breathing quick; countenance anxious; and she is exceedingly rest-
less and irritable.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
In the evening much the same, except that the skin is moist.
Continue the Aconite, and between each dose take Arsenicum 12th.
19th.-Noon. Has had a bad night: no sleep, on account of the
pain in the pit of the stomach. This morning the tenderness on pressure
is mitigated; there is not quite so much thirst; the pulse is reduced to
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
97
100, and is softer; tongue moist; expression of face not so distressed;
no vomiting.
Continue the medicines.
Seven o'clock-evening. She is now in a sound sleep, lying com-
fortably on her side. Waking accidentally, she says, that about three
o'clock, a feeling of delightful calmness and drowsiness came over her
senses—she fell into a sweet refreshing slumber, and awoke free from
pain, which seemed to have left her, as by a charm. She is now altogether
a different being; sits up briskly in bed, to show how much she has im-
proved. Her skin is cool and soft; pulse 95; breathing calm and easy;
very little thirst; felt a desire for food, and had some dry toast; can bear
considerable pressure at the pit of the stomach without discomfort.
Continue the medicines, at much longer intervals.
20th. Comparatively well; feeling only some soreness in the former
seat of pain.
21st. Still mending rapidly. Some little soreness remaining in the
pit of the stomach.
Take Nux Vomica 12th, three times a day.
22d.-Convalescent. No pain or other trace of disease; is cheerful
and laughing, and anxious to get up; taking solid food with a hearty
relish. Cured.
This was an unusually severe case. The action of the medicines was
most striking. I am unacquainted with any other means by which
such results could be obtained so painlessly and in so short a space of
time.
CASE II.-Robert P-, aged 41 years. He is much exposed
to sudden alternations of heat and cold, and occasionally drinks
large quantities of beer, water, &c.
January 18th, 1847.-He has been ill three days. His wife applied
to me yesterday, and, from her description of the case, Aconite was pre-
scribed, to be taken every four hours. On visiting him to-day, he
presents the following condition: he is stretched out on his back at full
length; his head thrown back as far as possible over the pillow; the
eyes shut; he breathes in a sighing, irregular manner; answers ques-
tions hesitatingly, and slowly; all these symptoms, together with cold-
ness of the surface and slow pulse, indicate great depression of the
nervous power. The only pain he feels is in the pit of the stomach
98
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
where he cannot bear the least pressure without flinching and crying out.
He loathes food, and there is nausea with everything he swallows: even
a little cold water, for which he craves, causes much pain; he has
vomited once to-day; his tongue is very white, large, and coated; urine
deposits a thick sediment.
Take Nux Vomica 12th, every four hours.
19th. Some, though not a great deal of amendment: pain in the pit
of the stomach nearly as severe; not so thirsty; nor so much nausea.
Take Arsenicum 12th, every four hours.
20th. Great improvement. He scarcely feels the pain in the stomach;
the nausea has ceased.
Continue the medicine.
21st.—Still mending rapidly. No thirst, or headache, or nausea :
takes light food, and feels stronger and better in every respect,
22d. He is so well as to require no further attendance.
CASE III.-Mr. H. B-, aged 32 years.
March 13th, 1847.-Has been ill nine days, and, during the whole
time, under Allopathic treatment, for "liver complaint and bile."
Finding no relief, but on the contrary getting rapidly worse, he is in-
duced to consult the writer. He has taken much medicine, which has
purged him violently, and he is now in a pitiable state of debility; he
cannot stand without tottering; his breathing is short and panting ;
speaks in broken sentences; his lips quiver and look ex-sanguine; keeps
himself in a bent posture, on account of the pain he experiences in the
stomach, if he attempts to stand upright; there is also excessive tender-
ness in the same part, on the least pressure; everything swallowed
causes excruciating pain, and is instantly vomited; he is distressed by
parching thirst, which he dares not quench. His tongue is red, wide,
hollowed, and dry as a chip. His pulse is rapid and small; he is harassed
by a little sympathetic cough; his head feels stupid and confused.
Take Aconite 12th, and Arsenicum 12th, alternately, every four hours.
14th.—Altogether wonderfully relieved. He has not vomited since
the first dose of medicine; is less parched; tongue moist; very little
thirst; slept well last night for the first time during his illness; the
pain in his stomach is already much mitigated.
Continue the medicines.
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
99
15th. Still mending most satisfactorily.
Continue Arsenicum, three times a day.
17th. So much better as to be able to take some boiled fish for
dinner.
19th.-Rapid improvement: scarcely a trace of disease.
Take a few doses of Nux Vomica 12th.
21st. He is sufficiently recovered to attend to his business.
CASE IV.—A. S—, aged 53 years. A very delicate person,
tall and thin: liable to a cough of an asthmatical character.
The present attack of illness has been coming on three
weeks.
February 18th, 1847.—Her food, causing intense pain, is rejected the
moment it is swallowed. Her "stomach feels like a sore, and burning
hot inside;" she cannot bear the least pressure in that part; she has no
appetite, and is very thirsty. Her tongue is dry, and coated; pulse
small, and quick; skin dry, and hot; she is so exceedingly weak as
scarcely to be able to raise herself in bed. She is troubled with a severe
cough, and expectorates a good deal of phlegm.
Take Arsenicum 6th, every four hours.
20th. Quite another woman. No vomiting; no pain; pulse natural;
tongue moist; her cough, also, is greatly relieved.
Continue the medicine, three times a day.
From this date she became convalescent, and required no more
medicine.
CASE V.-Eliza B-, aged 33 years. Has been ill five days.
February 14th, 1848.—The least thing taken into the stomach, even
a little liquid, causes intense pain, and is instantly vomited. The pain
extends from the pit of the stomach through to the back. It
It is felt also
under the right breast: she coughs, and spits a good deal of thick, blue-
looking stuff. Her bowels are much relaxed, with pain and scalding.
She is exceedingly weak, having scarcely power to stand. There is
general fever, marked by hot skin; quick, small pulse; thirst; and dry,
brown tongue.
Take Aconite 6th, and Arsenicum 12th, alternately, every four hours.
Uor M
100
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.
16th.-Vomited only twice since I saw her. Very little pain in her
stomach; bowels regular; tongue moist; scarcely at all thirsty. Cough
and spitting much relieved.
Continue the Arsenicum, three times a day.
19th.-No pain, thirst, nor fever. Bowels were a little relaxed
yesterday.
Take Nux Vomica 12th, in the morning. Sulphur 12th, at bedtime.
22d.-Quite well, with the exception of a little weakness.
China 6th, twice a day. Cured.
The following case, partaking more of the character of
"disordered stomach," than of active inflammation of that
organ, is subjoined for the purpose of exhibiting the ad-
mirable effect of Homœopathic medicine in correcting such a
condition.
CASE VI.-W. W—, aged 44 years. He has been ill five
days.
January 27th, 1847.-Complete derangement of the digestive func-
tions; nausea; flatulence; loathing of food; thirst; headache; tender-
ness on the pit of the stomach, and abdomen generally; low spirits; and
loss of muscular power.
Take Nux Vomica 12th, three times a day.
29th.-Feels perfectly well.
Mol
INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER, AND
JAUNDICE.
THERE is a fashion in physic as well as in other things.
Witness the lively contest for the palm of public patronage,
which for years past has been going on between the liver and
the nerves. The latter of the two, younger and more attractive
than its ancient rival, reigns supreme in the more favoured
circles, and among the gentler sex, whose ailments are almost
all interestingly "nervous," and the elegant eau de Cologne,
and lavender water, the universal remedies. The former,
banished these envied regions, finds a recompense in the
greater number of its adherents: it is still the pet of the
people, whose diseases continue to be vulgarly "bilious," and
their remedies the rude and time-honoured blue pill and black
draught.
Leaving the former of these persuasions in undisturbed
possession of its harmless power, I feel bound to protest
against the latter, as one of the most mischievous errors that
ever invaded the domains of physic. This mistaken notion,
that all disorders of the digestive organs are "bilious," and
to be attributed to the liver, is unfortunately by no means
confined to the non-professional public; but, to nearly an
equal extent, pervades the opinions, and modifies the practice,
of medical men. When diseases were less understood than
they are at the present day, professional ignorance found a
convenient cloak in being able to give "a local habitation
and a name" to an obscure ailment, under the indefinite
designation of "liver complaint.” Modern enlightenment,
though it has abated, has not abolished, the subterfuge. We
daily hear of medical men attributing to the liver, diseases
with which it has probably no more to do than the most
102
INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER,
distant organ in the body. A striking example of this is
afforded in the case of H. B. (described in our last section), who,
notwithstanding that he was labouring under most distinct,
and one would have imagined, unmistakeable signs of inflam-
mation of the stomach, was treated, during a space of nine
days, for "liver complaint and bile." Mistaking one disease.
for another, in any case a piece of culpable negligence, as it
respects the liver, is particularly so, since it leads to the
pernicious administration of large and poisonous doses of
calomel, and other preparations of mercury in a number of
stomach complaints, for the removal of which that medicine
is in no way appropriate. Sufficiently unjustifiable in the
cases of adults, this practice, applied to children, whose
insides are more actively alive to the irritating qualities of
the drug, becomes exceedingly injurious, and cannot be too
strongly reprehended.
**
Diseases of the liver, prevailing extensively in hot climates,
are, in this country, not nearly so common as is generally
supposed. Indeed, it may be questioned whether there is
any other important internal organ so rarely affected. A
carefully noted practice of fifteen years has not supplied me
with a dozen genuine cases of inflammation of the liver; and
the results of a considerable number of post-mortem exami-
nations of the bodies of persons who died of other complaints,
but in whom the liver was found almost uniformly healthy,
strongly corroborates such an opinion. In these facts, we
have another argument, if another were required, against
the custom of visiting all the disturbances of the digestive
functions upon the unfortunate liver.
As regards the treatment of inflammation of this organ, in
its acute form, Dr. Watson expresses the opinion of the Allo-
pathic school generally, when he says "blood should be freely
taken from the system by venesection, and from the neigh-
bourhood of the inflamed part by leeches. After blood-
letting has been duly performed, blisters may be applied to
the right hypochondrium" (the region of the liver). Of the
AND JAUNDICE.
103
use of mercury he says, "it should be so administered as to
affect the system as speedily as possible."
Whatever misgivings the Allopathist may have as to the
safety of using mercury in the treatment of some other com-
plaints, of the absolute necessity for its assistance in the cure
of the different diseases of the liver, he never entertains a
doubt. In his mind, the two are as indissolubly united as
the Siamese twins; and he would regard a severance of the
connexion, as inflicting no greater violence upon the ordi-
nance of nature in the one instance, than upon one of the
first principles of his art in the other. In the face of a preju-
dice so deep rooted as this, we can feel but little surprise that
mercury should be even popularly associated with bilious-
ness, sluggish liver, headache, indigestion, pains in the
shoulder, and other anomalous symptoms; and less still, that
salivation should be prescribed with so much confidence by
Dr. Watson, and other authors, in acute inflammation of the
liver.
(6
Expressing the opinion I have done, under the head of
salivation," on the use of mercury, and of "bleeding," in
the chapter on that subject, it is almost superfluous to assure
the reader that I do not in the smallest degree coincide in
the Allopathic plan of treatment just described. We have
already sufficiently demonstrated that inflammations of the
most acute and dangerous character submit to the action of
Aconite, and other appropriate remedies, with a facility quite
unheard of as the result of bleeding; and as to the use of
mercury, though I am quite prepared to admit its great
efficacy in many diseases, and in inflammation of the liver
among others, I am, at the same time, prepared to maintain,
that there are no circumstances which justify its employment.
in such enormous doses as to produce salivation.
These remarks apply with equal force to the treatment
of jaundice, which, though for the most part exceedingly
obscure in its origin, forms at times one of the complications
of inflammation of the liver, and, in Allopathic hands, receives
104
INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER,
much the same kind of treatment: the difference consisting,
principally, in blood being withdrawn by cupping in the side,
instead of by the lancet from the arm; and, in addition to the
use of mercury, a more free employment of purgatives.
Subjoined are the only two cases that have come under my
care, within the last three or four years, of what might be
considered as acute inflammation of the liver. Jaundice,
being a complaint of much more frequent occurrence, has
afforded me many opportunities of witnessing the satisfactory
way in which it yields to Homoeopathic remedies. Three of
these cases are added.
CASE I-Ann B-, engaged in a large house of business.
December 4th, 1846.-Ten o'clock at night: she went out yesterday
evening in a cold, biting wind, got chilled, was seized with shiverings
after her return home, and is now in bed, exceedingly ill. She com-
plains of severe pain in the right side, immediately in the region of the
liver. Pressure, coughing, and deep inspiration aggravate the pain,
which extends also round towards the back, and forward to the pit of
the stomach. There is constant vomiting; much thirst; dry mouth:
hot skin; rapid pulse; and intense headache; bowels confined. She
has been under medical treatment twelve hours, and, half an hour before
I saw her, took a dose of aperient medicine, which was instantly rejected
by the stomach.
Prescription; Aconite 3d, every three hours.
5th.-At noon: there has been no return of sickness; passed a better
night; pain much the same, though the febrile symptoms have abated
considerably. Bowels relieved twice.
Take Aconite, as before, and Bryonia 3d, alternately, every
three hours.
6th.—Amendment. Still a good deal of pain, and general high action.
Continue the medicines.
7th.-Better: but still the symptoms are obstinate. There is pain,
tenderness, and fever.
Aconite, and Belladonna 3d, alternately, every four hours.
8th.-A remarkable change for the better. She is entirely free from
pain; can bear considerable pressure, and motion, with ease. Has
AND JAUNDICE.
105
little or no thirst; tongue moist; pulse subdued; skin cool; bowels
moved once.
Aconite, at longer intervals, and Belladonna, at bed-time.
9th.-Seized last night with increased pain in the anterior edge of the
liver. On examination, that organ is found much enlarged, and reaching
down a considerable distance below the ribs; presenting to the touch a
hard, flat surface. There is more fever, and quicker pulse.
Take Aconite, and Mercurius 6th, alternately, every three hours.
10th.-Pain scarcely felt. Can bear pressure; fever subsiding.
Continue the medicines.
11th.-No pain at all; enlargement already diminished; bowels act
regularly.
Take Mercurius 6th, twice a day.
12th.-Quite convalescent: no pain; enlargement scarcely to be de-
tected; no thirst; skin, pulse, and tongue, healthy. Takes light food;
has left her bed.
Continue the Mercurius two days longer, at the end of which period
she was well.
woman.
CASE II.-G. D-, aged 38 years. A dark, stout, plethoric
Has been for several years accustomed to indulge
rather more freely in the use of potent drinks, than the strict
rules of propriety would prescribe as consistent with the
female character. The unfortunate consequences have been a
gradual enlargement of her liver, and repeated attacks of
bilious vomiting, and the loss of blood from the bowels. For
these she has taken, at different times, considerable quantities
of mercury; been bled, leeched, &c., &c.
October 30th, 1847.-Twelve hours ago she was attacked with de-
cided and severe symptoms of inflammation of the liver. That organ
now occupies nearly the whole of the right side of the abdomen-its
lower edge being clearly definable-and its outer surface presenting to
the feel a flat, hard, board-like substance. The whole of this region is
exceedingly sensitive to the least pressure. She is feverish; hot in skin;
very thirsty; much nauseated; and vomits frequently. Her pulse is
rapid; tongue foul; breathing quick and short, being impeded by a
sharp, cutting pain in the side.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
10
5
cos
106
INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER,
31st.-The constitutional symptoms all abated. Less fever, heat, and
thirst; no vomiting. The liver is still very tender on pressure, and in-
spiration is painful, and attended with a severe stitch in the side.
Take Bryonia 3d, every four hours.
November 1st.-The side, though still very uncomfortable, is greatly
relieved; and in other respects, also, she is much better. Bearing in
mind her previous habits, I prescribe—
Nux Vomica 6th, three times a day.
4th. The liver is entirely relieved of active disease, and has sensibly
diminished in size. There is but little discomfort experienced, even on
firm pressure. The urinary apparatus has now put on an unhealthy
action-her water is nearly suppressed, and, what little does pass, is of
a blood-red colonr; but as these symptoms do not, strictly speaking,
form a part of the disease we are now considering, I will not enter into
the details of the subsequent progress of the case, beyond the statement
that the disorder of the kidneys, as well as a considerable amount of
dropsy in the feet and legs, yielded under the action of Cantharis, Mer-
curius, Digitalis, Nux Vomica, and Sulphur.
The first two of the following cases of jaundice, were
evidently connected with chronic inflammation of the liver—
in the others, the cause was less obvious.
CASE III.-S. W. D-, aged 25; a very temperate man.
March 23d, 1847.-Has had a cold and cough, and felt languid and
poorly for a month past. During the last week has suffered from a
fixed, dull pain in the right side, just under the edge of the lower rib.
It is increased on breathing deeply, coughing, or moving suddenly. His
pulse is small and quick; appetite bad; is thirsty; has hot skin, and
headache. Urine the colour of coffee; bladder a good deal irritated.
Take Aconite 3d, directly; then Mercurius 6th, every four hours.
24th.—The white of the eyes, with the skin of the whole body, but
more especially of the hands and face, have become of a bright yellow
colour; he is much nauseated; the bladder is still very irritable, but the
urine not so high coloured.
Cantharis 6th, directly; then Mercurius, as before.
25th.-Better: not so much vesical irritation; skin very yellow; pain
in the loins; bowels confined.
Take Nux Vomica 6th, every four hours.
AND JAUNDICE.
107
27th. Great amendment. The yellowness of the skin and eyes nearly
all disappeared; feels altogether lighter, as though a load were removed
from his system. The bowels have acted freely. Urine better colour;
tongue, before thickly coated, is now becoming quite clean.
29th.--Scarcely a trace of disease. He takes one more supply of
medicine, and is cured.
CASE IV.-James McS-.
April 24th, 1847.-Has felt poorly, languid, and weak, several days.
To-day, a distinct yellowness shows itself in the eyes, and skin of the
forehead; there is a feeling of weakness in the pit of the stomach, and a
dull, heavy pain, increased on pressure, in the right side, in the region
of the liver. He has no appetite, and feels sick after taking anything.
His tongue is white, and coated; the bowels are confined, and the urine
a deep red colour.
Take Nux Vomica 12th, three times a day.
26th. Some melioration in his feelings; bowels moved; evacuations
clayey.
Take Mercurius 6th, three times a day.
30th.-Greatly better in health. The bowels act regularly and
healthily once a day; his appetite is returning; tongue clean; still a
faint tinge of yellow. Talks of resuming his employment.
Take Nux Vomica, twice a day.
He required no further attendance.
CASE V.-George S—, aged 25.
June 28th, 1848.-Has been ill ten days, and under medical care a
week. He has had a blister to the pit of the stomach, and taken pills,
salts and senna, &c. This treatment appears to have weakened him
considerably, but to have made no impression upon his complaint.
He is now labouring under constant nausea, and occasional vomiting;
aching in his limbs; severe oppressive headache; pain in his loins;
languor; thirst; his tongue is white, and coated. The skin of the whole
body is as yellow as a guinea.
Take Hepar Sulph. 12th, every night; Nux Vomica 12th, twice a day.
July 1st.—Skin already much clearer. The eyes and forehead, pre-
viously the most deeply impregnated with bile, are nearly of their natural
108
INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER.
colour. There is merely a yellowish tinge about the upper and outer
parts of the face. He feels greatly better in himself: there is no nausea,
sickness, or heaviness in the stomach; his tongue is getting clean, and
he has an inclination for food.
Continue the medicine.
4th. Feels perfectly well, with the exception of some debility, and is
anxious to resume his employment.
Take two or three doses of Sulphur. Cured.
CASE VI.-Eliza B-, aged 3 years.
September 26th, 1848.—The disorder has been manifesting itself two
or three days, and the whole body is now of a bright yellow colour. She
is constitutionally unwell-being thirsty, and feverish; complaining of
pain in the pit of the stomach, loss of appetite, headache, &c. The
evacuations from the bowels are white and clayey; the urine as dark as
mahogany.
Take Aconite 12th, directly. After six hours commence
Mercurius 12th, and repeat it three times a day.
29th.—Better in health, spirits, and looks.
Continue Mercurius.
30th. The yellowness has entirely disappeared; her appetite has
returned; her bowels act regularly and healthily; and in every other
respect she appears perfectly well. Cured.
I have retained records of several other cases of the same
kind, occurring in children as well as in grown-up persons.
They all yielded quite as readily as the foregoing, which are
related, principally with a view of showing how totally
unnecessary are leeches, blisters, purgatives, and above all,
salivation, to subdue affections of the liver.
!་
INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.
By this term is understood inflammation, not of the lining
or inner membrane of the bowels, but of the peritoneum, or
that membrane, which, forming their outer covering, is also
reflected upon, and lines, the inner walls of the abdomen.
In this respect, as well as in the nature, symptoms, and
termination of the disease, it presents a close resemblance to
pleurisy. In both, the structures attacked are analogous ;
the pain which accompanies them, is, in both instances, of a
sharp, cutting, burning character, and in movement of the
part, is increased to an excruciating degree; each disease,
unless checked in its early stage, is liable to terminate in
effusion producing, in the one instance, hydrothorax, or
water on the chest: in the other, ascites, or dropsy of the
abdomen.
:
Here the parallel ends. Going hand-in-hand to the bedside
of the patient, it is there, in the treatment, that Allopathy and
Homœopathy separate, and their antagonism begins. The
former encounters these diseases with the lancet, the leech, and
salivation: the latter, with her gentle dose. The difference
between these two modes of treatment is too palpable to need
further description. The difference between their results is
as great. The old system regards inflammation of the bowels
as one of the most dangerous diseases it has to treat: it is
certainly one of the most fatal. The Homoeopathist, though
equally alive to its rapid course, and disastrous issue, if it be
allowed to proceed unchecked, is conscious of possessing the
means of arresting its progress so promptly and effectually,
that, in moderately recent cases, he has no doubt of a favorable
result; and even in the most neglected and desperate, is not
without well grounded hopes of success.
110
INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.
CASE I.-Mrs. E. B-, aged 24 years.
July 4th, 1847.-Though not robust, she represents herself as being
an inflammatory subject; having previously had two similar attacks, for
both of which she was freely leeched. Eight hours ago she was seized,
after a severe rigor, with a burning, cutting pain in the middle of the
abdomen, shooting through to the back. This pain is much aggravated
by coughing, breathing deeply, pressure, or the least attempt to move
from her present position. Her pulse is exceedingly rapid; skin burning
hot; is very thirsty; and has severe headache.
Aconite 3d, every two hours.
5th.-Wonderfully better. She has little or no pain in the abdomen,
except on firm pressure, and in sitting up in bed. In other respects she
feels, as it were, well; she has no thirst; her tongue is moist; skin cool;
pulse 90; no headache.
Mercurius 6th, every four hours.
6th.-Perfectly well. Intends getting up to tea, and hopes to resume
her business in a day or two.
She received no further medical attendance.
CASE II.-Mr. E-, aged 23. A shopman, occupied from
early in the morning, till late at night. Naturally delicate and
ailing.
May 1st, 1847.-Has felt pains in his abdomen, at times, for several
days past: they got worse yesterday, and to-day his sufferings have in-
creased to such a degree as to compel him to relinquish business. He
is now very ill; complaining of a severe, cutting, burning pain, in the
upper part of the abdomen, particularly on the right side. It extends,
also, upwards to the pit of the stomach: these parts are so exquisitely
tender that he draws himself back at the approach of the hand. He is
bent half-double, and cannot move, breathe, or cough, without an almost
agonising increase of suffering. He is also constitutionally very ill :
having a rapid pulse; hot skin; dry tongue; constant thirst; and severe
headache. The bowels have been freely moved by two or three doses of
opening medicine, purchased at a druggist's.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
2d.—The change which has come over this young man is really
INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.
111
!
astonishing: he does not appear like the same person. He is lying per-
fectly at his ease in bed, looking cheerful and placid, and occupied in
reading. He has comparatively little pain; none, indeed, unless when
the abdomen is pressed pretty firmly. His pulse is quiet and subdued;
skin cool and soft; has very little thirst.
Continue the medicine, at longer intervals.
3d.-Felt himself so much better this morning, as to be tempted to
get up, dress himself, and come down stairs. In this he was a little too
venturesome-he has not felt so well since; having some return of ten-
derness in the former seat of disease.
To go to bed again, and take Mercurius 6th, every four hours.
4th. He is to-day able to come down stairs with safety and comfort.
There is scarcely any trace of disease; merely a little soreness felt on
pressure he is otherwise quite well. His appetite is returning.
Take Nux Vomica 12th, twice a day. Cured.
CASE III. Mrs. Sarah B-, aged 37 years.
spare, ailing woman.
A very delicate,
April 22d, 1847.-Had a cold, and shivering four days ago. Yesterday
was seized with a severe, piercing pain, in the right side of the bowels,
which compelled her to go to bed. The pain is of a fixed character, in-
creased to an intolerable degree by deep breathing, coughing, and the
slightest touch. She lies on her back, with her knees elevated, to relax
the abdominal muscles, and protect the bowels from the contact and
weight of the bed-clothes. The constitutional symptoms do not run
very high; on the contrary, she is greatly depressed: the pulse is very
small and quick; the tongue red at the tip and edges, foul in the centre,
and at times as dry as a piece of board; the skin is hot and moist. Her
head aches, and is dizzy when she lifts it from the pillow.
Take Aconite 3d, directly, and repeat it in twelve hours: in the
interval, Mercurius 6th, every hour.
23d.-Mending rapidly, in every way.
Continue Mercurius, every two hours. The Aconite as before.
24th. The inflammatory symptoms have almost entirely disappeared;
that is to say, she can bear pressure over the former seat of pain, without
flinching; can sit up in bed, and cough, and move, without inconvenience;
but there is some uneasiness in the abdomen generally, passing from one
part to another, evidently arising from flatulence. To relieve this she has
Sulphur 6th, every four hours.
112
INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.
May 3d. She visits me at my house, apparently well, and complaining
only of a little weakness.
Take China 3d, twice a day. Cured.
CASE IV-Mrs. M. R-, aged 46 years. A little, spare,
delicate woman; has very bad health, being much debilitated
by repeated attacks of internal hæmorrhage, from one of which
she suffered ten days ago.
April 21st, 1847.-Yesterday afternoon she was attacked by severe
pain in the lower part of the abdomen, of a fixed character, but increased
at times to an agonising degree. She lies on her back, with legs and
knees drawn up; cannot move, cough, nor breathe, without great aggra-
vation of her sufferings. Her pulse is 120, and small; skin hot and dry;
tongue parched; has incessant thirst, and confused headache.
Take Aconite 6th, every four hours.
22d.—Aggravation of all the symptoms: alarmingly ill.
Take Aconite 3d, and Belladonna 3d, alternately, every hour.
23d. Decided relief after the first dose of Belladonna; and the im-
provement has been progressive up to the last half-hour, when there was
some return of sharp pain, which I do not however regard as of much
importance, since, in every other respect, she is greatly better. She can
now bear a considerable amount of pressure on the abdomen; her pulse
is only 95, and beating softly; the skin perspiring; thirst much reduced ;
tongue moist. Had a comfortable, refreshing sleep, in the middle of
the night, during which she perspired profusely. The bowels have
acted twice.
Continue the Aconite; and take Mercurius 6th (instead of
Belladonna), both at longer intervals.
24th. She is comparatively well. She experiences no pain or incon-
venience from pressure or movement; there is simply a little aching,
produced by the shaking of a cough, with which she is at times troubled.
The pulse is 70, soft, and compressible; there is no thirst, heat, headache,
or other constitutional disturbance; she takes light nourishment; is to
remain in bed a day or two, and
Continue Mercurius, at longer intervals.
26th.--Sent to report herself so well as to need no further attendance.
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
THE intestines are composed of three layers or coats-the
outer or serous; the middle or muscular; and the inner or
mucous membrane. All these tissues are liable to be
attacked by diseases which are determined in their character,
by the peculiarities of these several structures. Thus, the
outer coat is affected almost exclusively by inflammation: it
constitutes the painful and dangerous disease we have just
been considering, under the general term of “inflammation
of the bowels." The middle or muscular coat, on which the
motion of the bowels depends, is not so liable as the other
two, to be independently diseased, but is apt to become
sympathetically implicated in other intestinal disorders.
The affections belonging to this structure are, as might be
expected, chiefly spasmodic-such as colic, and spasms of
the bowels, &c. The inner or mucous coat, devoted to diges-
tion and nutrition, is also liable to be attacked by diseases,
corresponding in number, and the peculiarity of their symp-
toms, to the structure of the part, and the important and
complicated function it has to perform. These diseases are
chiefly comprehended in the collective term of "bowel com-
plaints," and include the three we are now about to notice,
viz.-Cholera, Dysentery, and Diarrhoea.
Attended constantly by relaxation or purging, and merging
into each other by almost insensible gradations, there are yet
some leading symptoms peculiar to each of these diseases, by
which they may be distinguished from each other, and in
accordance with which they have received the names above
mentioned. Without stopping to enter into a minute detail of
their respective limits, we proceed at once to the considera-
114
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
tion of the most important, as well as the most interesting of
the three, namely, CHOLERA.
The fears of the public have been too recently excited
afresh by the threatened re-appearance of this disease, to
render necessary any description of the consternation which
reigned, as well in the professional, as in the non-professional
mind, when that terrible scourge visited this country sixteen
years ago. Those fears, on both occasions, originated, not
so much in any particular horror of the disease itself as
in the acknowledged inability of medical men to encounter
it successfully. There existed then, as there now exists,
the utmost diversity of opinion, both as to its real nature,
and the best mode by which it should be treated. If there
be any doubt of the correctness of this assertion, let the
periodicals and other publications of the two periods, bear
testimony to its truth. Those publications teemed with
suggestions, so inconsistent and contradictory, that no two
out of the number could be found to correspond: on the
contrary, each successive writer appeared to think that
the strength of his claim upon the confidence of the public,
increased in proportion to the novelty of the remedy he
suggested.
Referring back to the period when the cholera first raged in
England, we find that expedients the most absurd, and till
then unheard of as remedial agents, were propounded and
adopted, on no better grounds than the whim or enthusiasm
of the inventor. A universal and simultaneous quackery
pervaded the whole profession. Having no experience to
guide them, nor fixed principles of action to fall back upon,
medical men gave their remedies, they knew not why or
wherefore; but, like persons fighting in the dark, struck here
and there at random, impelled by the desperate hope of deal-
ing their enemy a chance blow.
I was informed by a gentleman, who was, at different times,
resident medical officer at two of the temporary hospitals,
fitted up in the metropolis for the reception of cholera pa-
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
115
tients, that, after the very first stage of the disease had passed,
no kind of treatment whatever appeared to be of any service
in arresting its progress. Every conceivable form of remedy
was administered, in the most extravagant doses-in short,
the utter hopelessness of doing any good, seemed to be re-
garded as a licence for trying all sorts of experiments upon
the unfortunate sufferers. The result was worthy of the treat-
ment: thirty out of the first thirty-three patients admitted
into one of the hospitals were taken out dead. This state-
ment is corroborated by high authority. Dr. Elliotson, who
was at that time physician to St. Thomas's Hospital, and who,
in giving the following account of his own success in the
treatment of cholera, may fairly be regarded as speaking for
the profession at large, says "As respects this country, I
cannot but think that if all the patients had been left alone,
the mortality would have been much the same as it has been.
If all the persons attacked with cholera had been put into
warm beds, made comfortable, and left alone--although many
would have died who have been saved-yet, on the whole,
I think the mortality would not have been greater than after
all that has been done; for we are not in the least more in-
formed as to the proper remedies, than we were when the first
case of cholera occurred; we have not been instructed in the
least, by those who have had the disease to treat. Some say
that they have cured the disease by bleeding; others by
calomel; others by opium; and others, again, say that opium
does harm. No doubt many poor creatures died uncomfort-
ably, who would have died tranquilly if nothing had been
done to them. Some were placed in hot water, or in hot air,
and had opium and calomel, and other stimulants, which,
altogether, were more than their system would bear, and more
than would have been borne if they had been so treated even
in perfect health. I am sorry to say that of the cases I had
to treat, the patients nearly all died. I tried two or three
sorts of treatment. Some had opium and calomel, in large
and full doses; but they died. Hot air was applied externally ;
116
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
L
and I got two to breathe hot air. It was found vain to
attempt to warm people by hot air applied externally. They
were nearly as cold as before; we could not raise their tempe-
rature; and, therefore, I thought of making them breathe hot
air; but both patients died about the period that death usually
takes place. It was said that saline treatment was likely to
be of use, and I accordingly tried it on some patients; the
result however was the same.'
That such a state of uncertainty and bewilderment, is a dis-
grace to a system of medicine which boasts of the accumulated
wisdom of ages, no one will deny. That it is an irresistible
proof of its insufficiency to accomplish the ends which a system
of medicine should accomplish, is equally evident. There is
no fact in the history of diseases better established than this
-that they are constantly undergoing changes in their type
and character, and presenting new phases. Any system of
medicine which does not supply instant and ready adaptations
to these changes, if not entirely useless, is, at least, lament-
ably imperfect. This is precisely the case with the old-school
of physic. No sooner does a disorder, new to us, like that now
under consideration, make its appearance, than medical men,
rendered powerless by surprise and uncertainty, cry out, hold!
We are not ready-we want time to reconnoitre--to study
the nature and peculiarities of our enemy-to find out its weak
and unguarded points, and experiment upon the best mode of
making our attack! But disease, when it comes in such
terrible shape, is an impatient and inexorable foe, and the man
who is not ready armed, and prepared to dispute its progress,
must abide the consequences of his remissness, from whatever
source it may spring.
Since, then, the old system of medicine fails at such a junc-
ture, is there, it will be asked, any other which does supply
these ready means of encountering successfully, and on the
instant, a comparatively unknown and powerful disease? We
unhesitatingly reply in the affirmative. As has been before
observed, Homoeopathy possesses that property which con-
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
117
:
stitutes the very life and soul of a system of medicine-with-
out which, indeed, it were a prostitution of the term to call it
a system, viz., universality. This property is never more
strikingly apparent than when brought to bear upon a new
disease and for this simple reason-that no delays are re-
quired for the purpose of experimenting. It is one of the
fundamental points of the Homoeopathic doctrine, that we
must become acquainted with the powers of medicines, by
testing them upon the healthy body, before they can be pro-
perly applied to the removal of disease. Possessed of this
knowledge, the physician, encountering any disease, whether
for the first time or not, corresponding in its symptoms with
any medicine previously so tested, entertains no doubt as to
the perfect adaptation of such remedy to the removal of such
disease. A more forcible illustration of the truth of this
simple, yet comprehensive, principle, could not be wished for,
than is afforded in the following interesting fact that Hahne-
mann, whilst the cholera was yet at a distance from Germany,
and long before he had an opportunity of seeing and treating a
case of that disease, but merely from description of its symp-
toms, selected from his materia medica, those very remedies
with which the Homoeopathists afterward combated the dis-
ease so triumphantly. It is proved by statistical calculations,
drawn from Government reports, and other unquestionable
authorities, that whereas nearly fifty out of every hundred
cases treated Allopathically, ended fatally, only twenty per
cent. were lost of those which were treated according to the
new system.
At the period to which we are referring, Homœopathy was
a stranger to England. Since then (to use a homely phrase),
we have become "better acquainted;" and the stubborn fact
that it is capable of grappling successfully with the giant foe,
has been placed prominently before the public. With no
* Vide Dr. R. Russell's Work on Cholera, and Papers by Drs. Dud-
geon, Black, &c., on the 'Homœopathic Treatment of Cholera.'
118
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
other evidence to rest upon than that which these statements
supply, it would be impossible to doubt, should the disease
again rear its hideous form to fright us from our propriety,
that our greatest security under its attack will be found to
consist in a prompt resort to Homœopathy. But I have other
grounds of confidence. My own experience inclines me to the
belief, that we have never, for any length of time, been en-
tirely free from cholera, since its visitation in 1833. At in-
tervals, during the last two years especially, isolated cases
have come under my care, differing but little from the true
Asiatic type. Two or three of these cases are recorded be-
low;
and I am mistaken if the reader, after perusing them,
and observing the effect of the remedies employed, will not
join with me in the conviction I feel, that, with the Homœo-
pathic remedies in our hands, we need no longer despair, even
at the approach of cholera.
CASE I.—Mrs. R-, aged 74. A weakly, delicate old lady at
the best.
July 26th, 1847.-Half-past 6 p.m.-Getting up this morning was
seized with pain in the abdomen, succeeded by relaxations of the bowels,
which continued at intervals during the day. Immediately after tea
vomiting supervened, and the bowel-complaint became much more severe.
The evacuations, composed of thin, gruel-like fluid, preceded by ex-
cruciating pain, and attended with irresistible straining, passed from her
in enormous quantities. The vomiting was as urgent; the liquid of the
same character as that just described, scalding her throat as it was
ejected. This state of things has now existed an hour and a half. Her
prostration is already extreme. Unable to lie down in bed, on account
of the peculiarity of her symptoms, she is supported, almost lifeless, on
the side of the bed by two attendants. She has a burning pain in the
pit of the stomach; her tongue and throat are dry and parched; she
has insatiable thirst for cold water, which, however, is ejected the
instant it reaches the stomach. Cramps, so violent as to cause her,
almost lifeless as she is, to roar with agony, seize every limb. Her pulse
is small, rapid, and at times imperceptible; her skin, covered with a
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
119
cold, clammy sweat, feels deathly to the touch; her brain is disordered;
her sight fails.
Arsenicum, every quarter of an hour.
Half-past nine. Two and a half hours later.-A remarkable change
in her condition has already taken place. She is lying in bed, calm,
and comparatively comfortable. The vomiting ceased after the second
dose of medicine, and the purging returned only at longer intervals.
The pain in the stomach and bowels has greatly subsided; her skin is
warm; pulse full and calm; she suffers from time to time with crampy
pains in different parts of the body, and, as a matter of course, is still
greatly prostrated.
Continue the medicine, every hour.
27th.—Ten a.m., the purging ceased entirely last night, and she has
vomited only once. She slept comfortably, when not disturbed by the
lingering pains which occasionally affect the limbs. There remains only
some soreness in the abdomen, conjoined with debility, to remind her of
the severe trial she has gone through.
There was no return of the disorder, and here my attendance ended.
CASE II.-M. D-, aged 59. A tall, thin man, generally in
the enjoyment of pretty good health.
August 28th, 1847.-Having partaken of a simple, light dinner, and
resumed his occupation, was seized about two hours after quite sud-
denly, with the most deadly vomiting and purging. He hastened
home; and being summoned in great haste to visit him, I find him at
at half-past five reduced to a fearful state of prostration. The action,
both upwards and downwards, continues unabated. It is almost in-
cessant, the egesta being amazingly large in quantity, and consisting of
a thin, watery liquid, like gruel. The purging is attended with violent
griping pains, and a sensation of "dying faintness." His pulse is ex-
ceedingly rapid, and so small and thread-like, as to be barely per-
ceptible. His voice fails; his features are sharp, pinched, and shrunken;
and the face, as well as the surface of the body generally, is pale, cold,
clammy, and bloodless.
Take, immediately, a dose of Arsenicum of the 3d power, and repeat
it every quarter of an hour afterwards.
Ten o'clock in the evening. He is lying comfortably in bed. The
purging and vomiting ceased almost instantaneously upon taking the
120
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
medicine. Violent reaction has succeeded to the previous depression:
he is now burning hot in skin; has headache, thirst, and rapid pulse.
In spite of all this, he feels comparatively well to what he did a few
hours ago.
Take Aconite 6tb, every four hours.
29th. The febrile symptoms have entirely vanished, and he feels no
inconvenience whatever, beyond some weakness, and slight dyspeptic
sensations.
Take two or three doses of Nux Vomica.
CASE III.—Henry B—, aged 16 years.
October 7th, 1846.-Seven o'clock, evening. Was attacked this
afternoon, about five hours since, with excruciating pains in the ab-
domen, followed, almost immediately, by the most violent vomiting and
purging, which continue to recur at intervals of about five minutes.
The evacuations from the bowels, at first like gruel, or dirty water,
during the last hour have been composed of pure blood. His skin is
covered with a cold clammy perspiration; his tongue is white; pulse,
small, rapid, and barely to be detected; has constant thirst. In addi-
tion to this, his sufferings from cramps in the legs, arms, &c., are really
frightful. He rolls about the bed like a madman, and absolutely roars
out with agony. His father and mother, are at this moment rubbing his
legs with all their energy, to assuage the pain.
Take Arsenicum 3d, every half-hour.
Ten o'clock at night. Greatly relieved: purging much less fre-
quent; vomiting entirely ceased the last hour; slight cramps; skin
warm; pulse fuller. He is now lying quiet, and comfortably covered up
in bed.
Continue the medicine, every hour.
8th.-Bowels relieved three times in the night, without pain; vomited
twice, and still feels some nausea.
Take Ipecacuanha 3d, every three hours. Resume Arsenicum if the
purging return.
9th. In the night had a slight return of the attack, which lasted an
hour; he is now hot and thirsty.
Take Aconite 12th, every four hours.
10th.-Convalescent. Pulse good; tongue clean; skin cool.
Relinquish medicine, and take light nourishment. Cured.
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
121
CASE IV. Mr. F-, aged 59 years. A stout, heavy, plethoric
person.
July 16th, 1848.-Has been unsettled in his inside two or three
days. At nine o'clock yesterday he was taken with the most violent
vomiting and purging, accompanied by "awful cramps
"awful cramps" in the legs,
left arm, and both hands. The evacuations were watery and pale,
and recurred every few minutes. He was intensely thirsty, his
tongue became "as dry as a chip." The extremities were cold
and his hands turned blue, and were covered with a damp sweat.
Alarmed at these symptoms, and his sufferings becoming intolerable, his
wife sent to me at five o'clock in the morning, when, from the descrip-
tion of his case, I was induced to send
Arsenicum 6th, to be taken every half-hour.
Visiting him eight hours after, I am told that the vomiting and action
on the bowels ceased after the second dose of medicine. A cup of warm
tea renewed the attack slightly-but it speedily subsided. The cramps
in the legs and thighs continue to torment him at times.
Take Arsenicum, every two hours.
In the evening. The last-named symptom has disappeared. Reaction
has set in he is hot, feverish, and thirsty; and his tongue is dry and
brown.
:
Take Aconite 6th, every four hours.
17th. These symptoms have vanished; and he complains simply of
flatulence, and a little soreness in the abdomen.
Nux Vomica, three times a day. Cured.
Case V.—W. T—, aged 58 years. A weakly, ailing man at
all times.
August 7th, 1848.- Has been ill ten hours. Attacked, suddenly, in
the middle of the night with urgent symptoms of cholera: incessant
vomiting and purging of a thin watery liquid; agonising pains in the
abdomen, cramps in the limbs, &c. He took hot brandy and water, and
other things, for relief, but found none. Continuing to get worse, he
summoned me to attend him at seven a.m. I found him as just de-
scribed: labouring also under excessive prostration of sirength, with
small, almost imperceptible pulse, and cold damp surface.
Take Veratrum 12th, every half-hour.
6
122
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-CHOLERA.
8th.-Dressed, down stairs, and sitting in his shop. The purging
ceased entirely after the first dose of medicine, and has not returned.
He has vomited only once since. Feeling weak and flatulent,
To take Nux Vomica 12th, twice a day. Cured.
Since the foregoing remarks on cholera were first penned, we
have, on two occasions, viz., in 1849, and again in 1854, been
confronted with this grim malady. On the last of these occa-
sions, an opportunity was afforded in the London Homœo-
pathic Hospital in Golden Square, of testing the treatment of
cholera by Homoeopathic remedies, under circumstances that
admit of no question as to the genuineness of the cases, or the
accuracy of the results. These results, as compared with
those obtained by other modes of treatment, were most satis-
factory. It appears from authentic returns,* that whilst "the
mortality by cholera in the several sets of English returns,
ranged from 41 to 51 deaths in every 100 persons attacked,”
and of those treated in the London Allopathic Hospitals, to 36 in
every 100, the mortality at the London Homœopathic Hospital
was at the rate of only 16 deaths for every 100 cases. It should
be stated, for the information of the reader, that when the
cholera broke out so suddenly and with such fearful fatality in
the Golden Square district, in September, 1854, "the Com-
mittee of Management of the London Homœopathic Hospital,
from a desire to contribute to the best of their ability to the
measures adopted by the parochical authorities, for the pur-
pose of checking the ravages of the disease, gave directions for
appropriating the wards of the hospital to the sole use of the
*Report of the Committee of Scientific Inquiry, in relation to the
Cholera Epidemic of 1854,' presented to both Houses of Parliament, by
the Board of Health.
Return presented to both Houses of Parliament, from the Com-
mittee of Management of the London Homœopathic Hospital,' moved for
by Lord R. Grosvenor, and ordered to be printed by the House of
Commons, May 21, 1855.
BOWEL COMPLAINTS. -CHOLERA.
123
?
poor attacked by the epidemic, the usual letters of recom-
mendation being dispensed with." The cases, therefore, from
which the above favorable results were obtained were of the
very worst form, and not mild or picked cases; they were
treated in the very locality where the disease was engendered,
and "in an institution ill adapted from its want of space, and
the arrangements of its wards, for the purposes of a cholera
hospital." But any question as to the genuineness and se-
verity of the cases, is entirely set at rest by the following ex-
tract from a letter, addressed by Dr. Macloughlin, one of
the medical inspectors of the Board of Health, to Mr.
Cameron, one of the Surgeons to the London Homoeopathic
Hospital.
Extract from a Letter, dated February 22d, 1855, from DR.
MACLOUGHLIN, one of the Medical Inspectors of the Board
of Health, to HUGH CAMERON, ESQ., M.R.C.S., and one of
the Surgeons to the London Homœopathic Hospital.*
"You are right. I did tell you that I would report to the
General Board of Health the opinion I had formed of the
manner the poor cholera patients were cared for in your
hospital, and the success of your treatment; but finding that
I could not enter into details relative to your hospital without
entering also into details relative to the Allopathic hospitals,
which would lead me into considerations foreign to the sani-
tary question before me, I therefore merely gave the result
arrived at in yours, along with the result arrived at in other
establishments, reserving to myself the liberty to say more in
detail what is the impression on my mind as to your treatment
of cholera cases, when I publish a monograph on cholera.
"You are aware that I went to your hospital prepossessed
against the Homeopathic system; that you had in me, in your
This letter was inserted, with the consent of the writer, in the re-
port to the House of Commons.
124
BOWEL COMPLAINTS. -CHOLERA.
camp, an enemy rather than a friend, and that I must there-
fore have seen some cogent reason there the first day I went,
to come away so favorably disposed as to advise a friend to
send a subscription to your charitable fund; and I need not
tell you that I have taken some pains to make myself ac-
quainted with the rise, progress, and medical treatment of
cholera, and that I claim for myself some right to be able to
recognise the disease, and to know something of what the
medical treatment ought to be, and
"That there may therefore be no misapprehension about the
cases I saw in your hospital, I will add, that all I saw were
true cases of cholera, in the various stages of the disease, and
that I saw several cases which did well under your treatment,
which I have no hesitation in saying would have sunk under
any other.
"In conclusion, I must repeat to you what I have already
told you, and what I have told every one with whom I have
conversed, that although an Allopath by principle, education,
and practice, yet, was it the will of Providence to afflict me
with cholera, and to deprive me of the power of prescribing for
myself, I would rather be in the hands of a Homœopathic
than an Allopathic adviser."
With this letter-too rare an instance of Allopathic candour
and liberality as regards Homoeopathy-I leave the subject
to the calm reflection of the reader.
I will not weaken the force of the foregoing statements by
any comments of my own-nor weary the reader by an addi-
tional and useless detail of cases.
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-DYSENTERY.
DYSENTERY, or, as it is popularly termed, "the bloody flux,"
is the second of the three bowel complaints we propose to
notice.
It occupies a middle place between cholera and diarrhoea,
as well in the danger which attends its course, as in the seve-
rity of the symptoms by which it is characterised. The marks
by which it is most strikingly distinguished from cholera are
these: the tenesmus or straining is more urgent and intole-
rable; the evacuations are smaller in quantity, and composed
chiefly of blood and slime; it is generally longer in running
its course; is attended with less rapid and marked prostration
of strength, and rarely terminates fatally. It is, moreover,
decidedly inflammatory in its nature: examination after death
betraying extensive mischief in the lining membrane of the
large intestine, to which portion of the alimentary canal it is
principally confined. The lines of demarcation between dy-
sentery and diarrhoea are less distinct.
The treatment of this disease under the old system, unsettled
and unscientific, cannot, in its results, be otherwise than most
uncertain and unsatisfactory. Let us submit it to a brief
examination.
Dr. Watson, in his published lectures, says, "dysentery in
this country seldom requires the lancet. Leeches, are, how-
ever, to be applied, whenever there is much tenderness on
pressure. A full dose of castor-oil may then be given; and
after that, an opiate. It is the practice of some physicians to
prescribe laxatives and opiates together; but in this com-
plaint, it is better to alternate them." Further on he advises
"the exhibition of five grains of calomel at bedtime, and a
senna draught the next morning, for two or three days in suc-
126
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.—DYSENTERY.
cession. Should the symptoms still drag on, it may be neces-
sary to give mercury even to the extent of making the gums
tender." Just before this he says, "there is one important
point in the treatment of dysentery, concerning which a
striking discrepancy of opinion exists. I allude to the em-
ployment of mercury as a remedy. I have no data for settling
the question."
In these short quotations, we have strong irritating purga-
tives ordered to cure a disease which consists in purging and
irritation of the bowels; opiates, which have the effect of in-
ducing constipation; between these, a suggestion to prescribe
laxatives and opiates together, or to "alternate them," if that
plan be preferred; and lastly, permission to salivate our pa-
tients, notwithstanding that inflammation, ulceration, and
purging of the bowels, are notorious consequences of that con-
dition, and that," there exists so much discrepancy of opinion,"
as to the propriety of using mercury.
It does one's heart good to turn from this unfortunate
jumble of inconsistencies and contradictions, to the simple,
harmonious, and methodical teachings of Homoeopathy.
Pointing out to her followers a direct and well-defined path,
she conducts them to a speedy triumph over diseases, which
involve the Allopathic practitioner in inextricable perplexi-
ties.
Certain as is the action of Homoeopathic remedies in the
generality of diseases, there are none in which that certainty
is more strikingly displayed, than in the different affections
of the mucous membrane of the bowels. We have just wit-
nessed their power over cholera in dysentery, which is at
times scarcely less severe, their curative properties are equally
manifest. The first few doses seldom fail to produce a marked
impression upon the symptoms, and so far from "dragging on,"
we rarely meet with a case which, if promptly treated, is not
pretty well subdued in the course of thirty-six or forty-eight
hours.
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.- DYSENTERY.
127
CASE I.-Mrs. C-, aged 54 years.
April 24th, 1847.-Three o'clock p.m.-Was as well as usual yester-
day. At two o'clock this morning, without any assignable cause, was
seized with pain in the bowels, followed in a few minutes by violent
purging; the promptings, up to this moment, are almost incessant, and
since ten this morning she had passed nothing but blood; there are
violent gripings, and the evacuations are attended with intolerable strain-
ing. Her pulse is small and quick; skin cool; tongue dry; she has
incessant craving for cold drinks.
Take Arsenicum 6th, every hour.
25th. The first dose of medicine eased the pain; the bowels now act
but rarely when they do, she still passes blood.
:
Continue the medicine, every four hours.
27th.-All the above severe symptoms have entirely disappeared. The
bowels are now moved two or three times a day. She feels some nausea
after taking anything.
Ipecacuanha 6th, twice a day.
28th. She is quite well.
CASE II.-Mary Ann D—, aged 66 years.
October 16th, 1847.—This patient has been ailing the last fortnight,
and troubled with irritability of the bowels. The last few days she has
got much worse, and at the present time is terribly reduced in strength:
she reels in attempting to stand; her breathing is short and spasmodic;
and she moans with each inspiration, as much from exhaustion as from
the pain of her disorder. She is purged every five minutes, passing
blood and slime, with a good deal of straining. She has intense pain in
the bottom of the abdomen; is exceedingly thirsty; pulse small and
rapid; has aching in all her limbs.
Take Arsenicum 3d, every hour.
17th. The bowels began to get better an hour after the first dose of
medicine, and she has been troubled only four times in the last twelve
hours, on which occasions no blood passed. Within the last hour
she has vomited five or six times, bringing up nothing but white
phlegm.
Take Ipecacuanha 6th, every two hours.
128
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-DYSENTERY.
18th.-Half an hour after the first dose of medicine the vomiting
entirely ceased, and has not returned. The bowels are still slightly re-
laxed, and feel tender and sore.
Take Mercurius 6th, three times a day.
With this she got perfectly well, and had no further attendance.
CASE III.—Mrs. S—, aged 60 years. A very weakly, delicate
person; much afflicted with asthma.
December 16th, 1846.-Seven in the evening.-Attacked, three or
four days ago, with relaxation of the bowels, which has gradually got
worse, and the last twenty-four hours has increased to an intolerable
degree, causing her to get out of bed thirty times last night; it has con-
tinued to be almost as frequent to-day. Severe pain and griping
precede the evacuations, which have been watery up to the last few
times; since then they have been composed only of blood and slime.
She is extremely prostrated in strength; her tongue is parched and
dry, and she suffers incessant thirst; her cough is also very trouble-
some.
Take Arsenicum 6th, every hour.
17th.-Noon.-There has been no action of the bowels since five
this morning. She is free from pain, and has only a little soreness re-
maining.
To relinquish the Arsenicum, and take Phosphorus, every four hours,
for severe inflammatory action of the lungs and bronchial tubes. She
continued this medicine two or three days, and was then quite conva-
lescent.
CASE IV. James R-, aged 2 years. A remarkably irritable,
fractious child.
May 24th, 1847.-Has been disordered in his inside some time. Yes-
terday he became much worse-the irritation of the bowels is nearly
constant, and attended with violent straining and purging-screaming,
and drawing up of the legs towards the abdomen. The evacuations are
small in quantity, and composed principally of slime. He is very feverish,
thirsty, and hot.
Take Chamomilla 6th, every two hours.
1
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.—DYSENTERY.
129
25th.—The same; except that there is not so much straining.
Mercurius Corrosivus, every four hours.
27th.-Amendment as regards the general health: not so hot; but
the bowel-complaint still continues: the evacuations recurring every
half-hour, and being composed of slime, blood, and fleshy-looking sub-
stance.
Take Arsenicum 12th, every two hours.
29th.—One hour after commencing the medicine, the child mended
wonderfully. There have been only five evacuations in the last twenty-
four hours; and those without blood.
Continue the medicine, at longer intervals.
With this he quite recovered.
6 §
L
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-DIARRHEA.
HAVING given examples in the last few pages of the satis-
factory manner in which Homeopathic remedies subdue the
more violent of the bowel complaints, it will not be necessary
to devote much time to the elucidation of their power over
diarrhoea, or “looseness of the bowels," which is the simplest
and mildest form of that class of diseases. In many cases, also,
the same remedies that are used with such success in the two
former diseases, are equally applicable in the treatment of the
latter. Those remedies are very numerous, and require to be
varied according to the varying phases which the complaint
may assume. I have retained notes of nearly a hundred cases,
occurring in individuals of all ages, and presenting an infinite
diversity of symptoms. In the removal of these, a great num-
ber of different remedies were necessarily employed. Any
attempt to exemplify the treatment of all these varieties would
be hopeless: it is also uncalled for, since my object is not so
much to teach how Homoeopathy should be practised in any
particular case, as to show, on a broad scale, what it is capable
of accomplishing. We will therefore dismiss the subject with
the quotation of a few brief cases: premising, that the ordinary
mode of treatment presents as curious a medley as can well be
conceived, of purgatives, opiates, astringents, antacids, dia-
phoretics, tonics, alteratives, mercurials, &c., used in the most
promiscuous and fantastical manner, according as the caprice,
custom, education, or other impulse of the prescriber, may
chance to suggest.
There is, however, one point of difference between the two
modes of treatment, which must not be passed over quite so
cursorily I allude to the after-effects of the remedies.
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-DIARRHEA.
131
It is a well known fact that the different preparations of
opium form a constant, essential, and, indeed, nearly the only
effective ingredient in Allopathic prescriptions for the cure of
diarrhoea, and other bowel complaints. It is equally well
known, that one of the most unfailing effects produced by
that medicine, is obstinate constipation. The necessity thus
incurred of administering aperients, and the difficulty often
experienced in restoring the bowels to a healthy action, con-
stitute the bugbear of the old system of treatment. The
patient's troubles do not end where they ought to do-
namely, with the subsidence of the disease. He has to
undergo a second medication to rectify the errors of the first.
It is not enough that he swallow the nauseous draughts pre-
scribed for the original disease: he must needs submit to the
still more repulsive process of taking castor-oil, pills, rhubarb
and magnesia, &c., for the purpose of arousing the benumbed
and stupified powers of his abdominal viscera, to a resumption
of their duty.
There is a remarkable exemption from all this in Homoeo-
pathic practice. Acting in strict accordance with the operations
instituted by nature for the removal of the disease, Homœo-
pathic remedies exert no power beyond that point-their action
ceases the moment the disease is cured. There are, therefore,
no after-consequences to be rectified-no corrective aperients
are required. The bowels almost invariably resume their
action in a healthy and natural way, and of their own accord,
within the space of twenty-four or thirty-six hours at the
utmost.
This may appear a trifling matter-but, considered in rela-
tion to the comfort of the patient, and the injurious effects of
purgative medicines, it becomes, in reality, a subject of no
slight importance.
132
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-DIARRHŒA.
CASE I.—A. O—, aged 22 years.
June 26th, 1847.-Has been ill a week; thinks the attack was caused
by indigestible food. He has been gradually getting worse from the
first up to this time. His bowels are moved about six times a day, each
operation being preceded by a good deal of colicky pain. The evacuations
are liquid, and pass without pain or straining. His tongue is coated;
has very little appetite; and is thirsty.
Take Cinchona 3d, every four hours.
Six doses of this medicine entirely removed the complaint.
CASE II.—R. G—, aged 3 months.
August 24th.-Noon.-This child has been under the care of a medi-
cal gentleman the last five days. It was carried to him this morning, in
so hopeless a condition, that he declined prescribing, and ordered its
mother to take it home, and not disturb its dying moments by attempting
to wash or dress it.
Its present condition, sufficiently deplorable, is as follows: it lies per-
fectly motionless; with wasted features, dull, sunken, half-closed eyes;
open mouth, and lips dry and shrivelled; and drawn far inwards over the
gums. The evacuations, consisting of yellow and green slime, pass very
frequently; and it vomits the instant anything reaches the stomach.
This exhausting process has been going on the last fortnight, and has
reduced the child to its present almost lifeless state. There is some
warmth in the skin, and the pulse is slow, laboured, and somewhat
full.
A dose of Ipecacuanha to be placed on the tongue, and to be repeated
every half hour.
Evening. There has been no return of vomiting, and the bowels have
been purged only once since the medicine was begun. It now sucks
freely, and is altogether quite another child.
Take Cinchona 12th, every two hours.
26th.—The little creature is wonderfully changed. Its eyes are wide
open, bright, and clear; it sits up on its mother's arm, looks about, and
takes notice. He slept well last night; there has been no vomiting; and
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-DIARRHŒA.
133
the bowels have been relieved only once. He appears merely to be
troubled with flatulence.
Cinchona, every morning. Sulphur every night.
27th.-Comparatively well: cheerful, hearty, and gaining strength
every hour. The bowels are quite regular and healthy. The medicines
were continued a few days longer-after which it was perfectly restored,
to the no small delight of its parents, who, having previously made up
their minds to lose their child, looked upon its restoration almost in the
light of a resurrection.
CASE III.—Mrs. I-'s child, aged 2 months.
August 26th, 1847.-Was fed in the first instance, and afterwards
suckled too much. It has had diarrhoea, off and on, since birth, and at
length got so seriously ill, that its mother took it to a physician, who
prescribed a compound mixture of chalk, tincture of catechu, and bitters;
and a small calomel powder, to be taken twice a week. The use of these
medicines was persisted in for a fortnight, when the child, wasting and
still getting worse, came under my care. It was purged six or seven
times in the twenty-four hours, and the last three or four days it vomited
everything it took.
To have Ipecacuanha 6th, every two hours, till the vomiting
ceased.
A striking amendment was perceptible the next day. It had vomited
once or twice only, and the bowels were much more quiet.
Continue the Ipecacuanha, twice a day; and Sulphur 12th, at
bedtime.
Under this treatment the child's amendment was astonishingly rapid.
At the end of a week its bowels acted regularly once a day, and there
was no return of the sickness it gained flesh, and got a regular, healthy
appetite, in the place of a constant craving for food. The Sulphur pow-
ders were continued for some time longer, every third night, after which
no further attendance was required.
CASE IV.-James G-, aged 31 years.
September 18th, 1848.-He is very much exhausted by this attack-
which has now lasted three days. The bowels are moved about every
134
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-DIARRHEA.
half-hour with griping, straining, and soreness.
yellow and slimy.
The evacuations are
Take Mercurius 6th, every two hours.
20th. The purging ceased after the second dose, and remained quiet
till to-day, when the bowels were slightly relieved. He is generally
dyspeptic, and feels so at the present time.
Take Nux Vomica 12th, twice a day. Cured.
CASE V.-C. C-, aged 29 years.
July 25th, 1848.-Taken yesterday with griping in the bowels, and
was several times relaxed. It subsided in the afternoon, and remained
quiet till four o'clock this morning, when it returned and has continued
ever since, with considerable violence; recurring at intervals of about
an hour, and attended with severe griping. The evacuations are watery
and bilious. He is completely disordered in his stomach, complaining
of loss of appetite, disagreeable taste, headache, &c.
His tongue is
foul.
Take Dulcamara 12th, every three hours.
His bowels were scarcely at all disturbed after the first dose; the
next day he felt quite himself, and had no more medicine.
CASE VI.-J. F-, aged 32 years. Dark complexion, irritable
disposition.
August 12th, 1848.-Seven o'clock, evening.-Seized at three o'clock
in the morning with the most excruciating pain in the bowels, followed
by violent relaxation. He took various domestic remedies to no avail.
The action still continues about every half hour, attended with so much
pain as to bend him double, and cause him to cry out with agony. The
evacuations are hot and scalding, and followed by painful straining. He
is now very weak.
Take Colocynth, every half-hour.
13th.-Perfectly relieved in two hours. He slept from ten o'clock
last night till five this morning, when the bowels were slightly moved
He now complains only of some soreness in the late seat of pain,
and of weakness.
once.
Take Nux Vomica 12th, twice a day. Cured.
BOWEL COMPLAINTS.-DIARRHŒA.
135
CASE VII.-Mrs. C. D—'s child, aged 9 months.
November 11th, 1846.—A fine, healthy girl; but her mother not
having sufficient milk to support her, she has, the last two months, been
fed occasionally on artificial food. During the same period she has been
disordered in her bowels: purged about six or eight times in the twenty-
four hours. Her evacuations have a slimy, green appearance, and are
passed with a good deal of straining; and she draws up her legs, and
cries out with pain.
Take Chamomilla, three times a day.
16th.-Perfectly well the last two days.
INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS
AND BLADDER.
THE members of the old school of medicine test the virtues
of their remedies only on the sick patient. Besides the con-
sideration, that the period when a person is labouring under
disease is the least appropriate that could be selected for
making him the subject of an experiment, it must at once be
evident, that such a practice can never lead to exact and
trust-worthy results; inasmuch as under such circumstances,
it is impossible to distinguish between the symptoms which
the remedy might originate, and those which belong to the
disease. The physician is thus always in the dark as to the
pure healing powers of his remedy. This is one source of
the confusion and uncertainty which characterise his oper-
ations.
It is an essential point in the Homœopathic system, that
all medicines should be tested upon the healthy body before
they are applied to the removal of disease. By this plan we
ascertain, with the utmost precision, the remedial properties
of any given substance, and are enabled to foretell what
effect it will produce, when administered to a sick person.
It was by a process of this sort that Hahnemann first brought
to light the Homoeopathic law: it is the basis on which it
rests, and on which, after years of toil, its illustrious dis-
coverer erected that imperishable monument to his genius
and perseverance-his Materia Medica Pura.
Another serious obstacle in the path of old physic, is the
custom of mixing a number of different medicines together
in the same prescription. The disadvantages of this practice
are keenly felt, even by the professors of Allopathy themselves.
One of them, Sir John Forbes, declares, "our system is
INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS AND BLADDER. 137
here greatly and radically wrong. Our official formulæ are
already most absurdly and mischievously complex, and our
fashion is to double and redouble the existing complexities.
This system is a most serious impediment in the way of
ascertaining the precise and peculiar powers of the individual
drugs, and thus interferes in the most important manner with
the progress of therapeutics. Nothing has a greater ten-
dency to dissociate practical medicine from science, and to
stamp it as a trade, than this system of pharmaceutical
artifice.'
""*
With this confession on their lips, these gentlemen, like
parents who at length view even the follies of their children
with something like admiration, still adhere to a fashion they
condemn. This is the more remarkable, as its relinquish-
ment would interfere in no degree either with their principles
or practice, beyond the mere simplification of their prescrip-
tions. So inveterate, however, is the habit, that the pre-
scriber can scarcely bring himself, under any circumstances,
to its abandonment, Administering only a few drops of
laudanum, he cannot trust himself to exhibit it in pure water,
but must needs mystify its action by admixture with syrups
and scented waters: forgetting that every medicinal sub-
stance, however seemingly simple in itself, possesses a peculiar
action of its own, differing from that of every other medicine.
If this be true (and who will deny it ?) of medicines even of the
same class-aperients, for instance-what good can reasonably
be expected from those compounds, which, consisting of
ingredients the most contradictory, are intended also to pro-
duce effects the most inconsistent-compounds in which
cathartics, diuretics, diaphoretics, and expectorants, are either
jumbled together in the same draught, or swallowed almost
simultaneously in the multiplied forms of pills, mixtures, and
powders! If, under such circumstances, the patient has the
good fortune to recover, it is clearly impossible to decide to
*British and Foreign Medical Review.'
138
INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS
which of the ingredients employed any benefit he may have
derived, should be attributed.
The Homœopathist, on the other hand, never administers
more than one remedy at a time; and so escapes all. that
uncertainty and indefiniteness which surrounds, and to a
great extent nullifies, the action of Allopathic medicines.
The most prejudicial effect of the errors I have named, is
the want of faith they engender in the minds of medical men,
as to the healing powers of medicines generally. How else
can we account for the remarkable fact, that with two or
three exceptions, the Allopathist possesses no single internal
remedy to which he dare confide in the treatment of any
acute disorder: but in almost every case falls back upon a
totally different, and what he considers a more powerful class
of agents-bleeding, leeching, and blistering.
These remarks are suggested by the almost total want of
correct information, which to this day exists among Allopa-
thists, as to the proper action of the Spanish-fly. It is noto-
rious, that notwithstanding their long acquaintance with this
drug as a stimulant to the skin, and their familiarity with the
fact that when so employed, it is apt to become absorbed
into the system, and exert a powerful action on the kidneys
and bladder, they never dream of trusting to it, as the
Homœopathist does, as one of the most energetic, speedy,
and certain remedies in active inflammation of those organs.
Had they made themselves acquainted, by Hahnemann's
process, with the pure medical virtues of this drug, they
would not, as they do now, restrict its use, almost exclusively,
to the insignificant office of raising a blister.
At the risk of appearing immethodical, I have ventured to
include inflammation of the bladder and the kidneys under
one head.
The fact that the same treatment is to a great
extent applicable to both diseases, and the desire to avoid
tautology and unnecessary prolixity, have determined me in
the adoption of this course.
The subjoined cases have been selected from a number of
AND BLADDER.
139
others of the same kind (in which a variety of medicines
were used), chiefly with a view of illustrating the observations
just offered concerning the curative powers of Cantharis.
There are, indeed, but few cases, in which, especially at the
commencement, this remedy may not be employed with
advantage; and, in some, it is alone sufficient to effect a
cure.
CASE I.-R. B—, aged 34 years. A delicate man, often ailing.
May 4th, 1847.—Felt unwell three days ago, with general languor, and
aching in his limbs. The day before yesterday, was confined to bed.
Yesterday, though far from well, went to his employment, but becoming
much worse he is again at home, and presents the following condition:
he has severe pain across the middle of the back, in the region of the
kidneys, of a fixed, aching character, and much increased by pressure.
In the first instance he was a good deal troubled with sympathetic affec-
tion of the bladder-having almost incessant desire to relieve it, and
passing but a few drops at a time—and that, the colour of blood. This
irritation has somewhat subsided, but the urine still maintains the same
appearance, and is very small in quantity. In addition to these local
symptoms, he is constitutionally disordered-suffering severe headache,
nausea, longing for cold drink; having alternate heats and chills; a rapid,
small, hard pulse; and troublesome cough.
Take Aconite 3d, and Cantharis 3d, alternately every four hours.
6th. He is greatly relieved. The pain in his back is much less;
urine clearer, and of lighter colour, though still small in quantity; fever
abated, and very little thirst.
Take Aconite twice in twenty hours. Continue the Cantharis as
before.
With this supply of medicine he quite recovered; and resumed his
occupation on the 10th.
CASE II.-C. D-, a man, aged 36 years.
April 30th, 1848.-Ten o'clock in the evening.-For the last three
weeks has suffered pain around the back and abdomen. He now com-
plains of severe pain in the right kidney; and pressure in that region
almost makes him faint. The pain follows the course of the ureter, im-
140
INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS
plicating the bladder, and causing incessant desire to void urine. The
last four days this fluid has looked like blood, and is now very small in
quantity. He was very sick this morning, and vomited a little blood.
Constitutionally, he is also very ill: is weak and depressed, and has an
anxious expression of countenance; his head aches; he is very
thirsty; and has no appetite. He has been prescribed for by a
medical gentleman, but has derived no benefit whatever from the
medicine.
Take Aconite 3d, to begin with; and follow it, after a lapse of four
hours, by Cantharis 12th; to be repeated at like intervals.
May 1st. He got almost instantaneous relief after the first dose of
Spanish-fly. He does not complain at all of the pain in his back. He
still feels a dull aching in the region of the bladder-but was not under
the necessity of relieving it at all in the night, and only twice this
morning. When he did so, the fluid was more copious, and lighter in
colour.
Continue the Cantharis, every four hours.
2d.—The kidney and bladder are free from pain and irritation, the
secretion is healthy, and proper in quality and quantity. He is troubled
only by some dyspeptic symptoms, for which he has
Nux Vomica 12th, twice a day.
4th.-Well enough to resume his employment.
Has a good
appetite, and feels only an occasional aching in the stomach and
bowels.
Take Sulphur 12th, at bedtime. Cured.
In introducing the following cases, illustrative of the
Homœopathic action of Cantharis in inflammation of the
bladder, it may be useful to the general reader to be informed,
that whereas in inflammation of the kidneys, the original
disease is situated high up in the loins, and the bladder, if at
all effected, is so sympathetically; in the cases now to be
related, the bladder is the principal seat of disease, and the
characteristic symptoms are referable particularly to that
organ. They consist mainly, in pain in the lower part of the
abdomen; an unhealthy state of urine; and an incessant,
and most distressing desire to pass it.
AND BLADDER.
141.
CASE III.—Mrs. M—, aged about 40 years.
February 14th, 1847.-Has been ill four days, with distressing feeling
in the lower part of the abdomen, and frequent desire to void her urine;
which causes an intolerable cutting pain as it passes, and contains a
thick, yellow, stringy sort of sediment. During the last eight weeks.
she has been troubled with a pain in the lower right side of the abdomen,
considerably increased by pressure, and by motion. She is feverish and
thirsty; and has lost her appetite.
Take Aconite 3d, first, then Cantharis 12th, every four hours.
15th. Afternoon.-She is much better, having been necessitated to
relieve the bladder only three times since early in the morning; the fluid
passes much more easily, and looks clearer; she has some pain in the
lower part of the back.
Continue the medicine.
18th. The urine is healthy, and troubles her but very little; her
general health also is fast improving.
Take Sulphur 12th, twice a day; with which she got perfectly well,
and required no further aid.
CASE IV.—William N-, aged 28 years.
February 17th, 1847.-Has been ill a week with pain in the region of
the bladder, attended with frequent urging to micturate; the fluid having
a thick, milky appearance, and causing him much pain in its passage.
The pain also extends into the lower part of the back, and passes thence
down to the thighs and legs. He is very feverish; and has head-
ache, thirst, and loss of appetite. There is no evident cause of the
attack.
To take Aconite and Cantharis 12th, alternately, every four hours.
19th. The urinary symptoms have entirely disappeared. His head.
is also much better: but he complains now of pain extending from the
loins upwards to the shoulders-much increased by the warmth of bed
and by motion. He is liable to rheumatic pains, and this appears to be
of that character.
Take Bryonia 12th, three times a day.
22d.—Well, with the exception of a little headache.
Take Belladonna 12th, every night. Cured.
142 INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS AND BLADDER.
CASE V.-P. M—, a robust man, aged 38 years.
December 15th, 1848.-Was seized rather suddenly, a fortnight since,
with irritation of the bladder, attended with a heavy, dull pain in the
lower part of the abdomen, frequent urging to micturate, and the void-
ance of small quantities of cloudy urine. These symptoms have con-
tinued gradually to increase, until to-day they became so intense as to be
no longer tolerable: he therefore seeks my assistance. The urine is now
muco-purulent, passed almost incessantly a few drops at a time, and suc-
ceeded on each occasion by nearly as much pure blood. There is also
general excitement of the system, indicated by fever, thirst, &c. There
is no gonorrhoea.
Take Aconite 6th, and Cantharis 6th, alternately, every four hours.
16th. He is astonished at the sudden relief he has obtained. The
irritation has nearly all subsided. He has emptied the bladder only three
times in the course of the day. The fluid still bears much the same
characters, and cuts him, as it has done all along, in its passage.
Continue the medicines.
18th.-Little or no irritation in any way.
Take Hyoscyamus 12th, three times a day.
20th.-Return of most of the symptoms, in a mitigated form.
Resume Cantharis 12th, three times a day.
21st.-Again progressing most prosperously. The fluid more healthy
-occasionally a drop or two of blood.
Take Cantharis, twice a day. Nux Vomica, at bedtime.
From this date the restoration of the bladder to its normal condition
was steady and uninterrupted. Interchanged with Cantharis, he took,
to complete the cure, Nux Vomica, Sulphur, and Calcarea.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.
MANY of the slighter affections of the brain, giving rise to
headache and other symptoms, clearly referable to disorder
of that organ, are doubtless of an inflammatory character ;
but active inflammation of the brain, except as it is originated
by, and forms a part of, some other disease, is, in adults,
comparatively a rare complaint. The injurious effects accru-
ing from the use of ardent spirits, and resulting in delirium
tremens, form no exception to this remark; for besides that
the latter complaint is distinguished by other peculiarities, it
is pretty well ascertained to consist rather in irritation, than
inflammation, of the brain. In children, again, in whom the
disease shows itself most frequently and fatally, it is generally
traceable to a sympathetic connexion with irritation existing
in some other part of the body. How rarely do we meet
with a case of water on the brain, unallied with some disorder
in the abdominal cavity ?
Treated Allopathically, there is scarcely any other disease,
in which the abstraction of blood by the lancet, cupping,
and leeches, is employed so unsparingly. Whether simple,
combined with fever, or arising from external injury, it
yields with surprising facility to the action of Homœopathic
remedies. Subjoined are the only three distinct cases of the
first of these kinds, that have lately come under my obser-
vation.
CASE I.-W. S-, a hearty young man, aged 20 years.
January 28th, 1847.-He has been travelling in the north of
England, on business, and caught cold on his journey home about a week
ago.
144
INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN,
{
At three o'clock yesterday he was seized with shivering and violent
pain in the head. He went to bed (where he now remains); took two
aperient pills, which acted freely. At the present time, 4 p.m., he is in
the following state: he lies with his neck stretched out and head thrown
back on the pillow, from which position he cannot bear to move. He
complains of intense pain in the forehead, over the eyes; he cannot tole-
rate the least light or noise-his brow is knit, eyes red and angry-
looking. His skin, especially that of the forehead, is hot and dry; pulse
95, full, and hard; his mouth and tongue are dry, and there is incessant
thirst. He has no pain in any other part of the body. He is represented
as being liable to "flow of blood to the head"--but never had such an
attack as this before.
Take Aconite 3d directly; then Belladonna 3d, every two hours.
29th.-Morning-Some amelioration-head not so hot and painful ;
thirst not so urgent; pulse same in frequency, but not so hard and
throbbing; skin cooler.
Take Aconite 3d, and Belladonna 3d, every three hours, alternately.
30th. He is quite another creature. He exclaims, on my entering
his room, and asking how he does, "I am all right now, sir;" his ap-
pearance verifies the assertion. A load seems to have been removed from
his brain; his countenance is cheerful and animated, and he sits up in
bed and converses without inconvenience. His head is cool to the hand,
and he complains of no pain beyond a little jarring over the right eye,
caused by a slight cough, with which he is troubled. He slept well last
night. His tongue is moist, and he suffers but little from thirst.
has some inclination for food.
31st. He is up, and dining off boiled fowl.
Cured.
He
CASE II.—Mrs. S―, aged 67 years. A delicate person, much
afflicted in different ways. She is more particularly liable to
head attacks, for which she has been repeatedly cupped,
leeched, and blistered. She suffered an attack very similar to
that under which she now labours, only not so severe, ten
years ago, whilst residing at Oxford, and underwent strong
depleting measures for its relief: among others, the appli-
cation of a blister to the back of the neck, which was kept
open a fortnight.
March 7th, 1848.—Her head has not been right for the last week, and
INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.
145
for three days past it has got much worse.
She is now confined to bed,
complaining of a throbbing, and hard, aching pain right through the head,
from back to front: light and noise distract her; she can get no sleep,
and feels as if she would lose her senses. She sees everything double :
the forehead and top of the head are burning hot to the hand. Her
pulse is full and hard, and 100 in a minute; she is very thirsty; her
tongue is foul, but moist. She had a shivering fit yesterday, and vomited
at the same time. She has taken aperient and other medicines, used
cold lotions, &c., to no purpose.
Take Aconite 3d, directly; repeat it in four hours. Then commence
with Belladonna 3d, and repeat it every four hours.
8th.-Very great amendment. She has no pain in the head-her
forehead is cool-she can bear light without inconvenience. Her pulse
is soft, and only 65 in a minute; skin cool; no nausea.
Continue Belladonna.
10th. Still improving. She complains of some epigastric tenderness,
and at times slight confusion in the head.
Take Pulsatilla 6th, twice a day; and Sulph. 12th, at bedtime,
for three nights.
15th. She visits me at my house, feeling as well as usual.
CASE III.-Jane C-, aged 5 years. A delicate, fair, and
unusually intelligent child; belonging to a scrofulous family.
October 10th, 1847.-Has been under treatment two or three days
for cold and cough. Last night she was seized suddenly with a train of
the most urgent symptoms: high inflammatory fever; intense headache;
burning hot skin; insatiable thirst; rapid and throbbing pulse; quick
breathing; pain, distension, and excessive tenderness of the abdomen;
extreme prostration.
Take Aconite 6th, every two hours.
Evening. Much the same; except that the head appears more ur-
gently affected: she buries it in the pillow; shuts her eyes; cannot
endure the slightest disturbance or noise, nor the admission of the least
light.
Alternate the Aconite with Belladonna 6th, every two hours.
11th.-The febrile symptoms, that is to say, the heat of skin, and
thirst, and rapidity of pulse, have in some degree subsided. The head
symptoms still continue, and are, if anything, more urgent and serious;
7
146
INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.
she starts, and screams; is slightly convulsed with the motion of the
eyes; keeps them closed against the light; and cannot bear the least
disturbance. Her tongue has a yellow and white coating. Complains
of a sharp pain in the right side of the chest.
Take Bryonia 3d, every three hours.
12th.-Relief in most respects. Takes notice; chats, at intervals;
more tolerant of light; head cooler; side easier; skin moist; not so
thirsty.
13th. In the night the head became again much worse; and there is
now threatening of water on the brain: she lies in a state of partial
coma-drowsy, heavy, and lethargic; eyelids half closed; pupils slug-
gish; screams and starts, without apparent cause; and rolls her head at
times. Urine suppressed.
Take Helleborus 6th, every three hours.
14th. Decided amendment. Less lethargic; more cheerful; head
cooler;
skin soft and perspiring; pulse mild and soft; she opens her
eyes, and chats for a minute or two occasionally, but again relapses into
a dreamy state.
Continue Helleborus.
16th. Still further and great amendment as regards the head, which
appears to be permanently relieved: but she is now exceedingly weak.
The tongue, though moist, is still coated; she has a troublesome cough;
and is relaxed in her bowels.
Take Rhus 12th, three times a day.
Continuing this medicine two or three days, then Mercurius for pro-
fuse perspiration, and lastly Sulphur, her amendment was rapid, and her
restoration complete.
HYDROCEPHALUS, OR, WATER ON THE
BRAIN.
THIS name is apt to mislead as to the real nature of the
disease, which is essentially inflammatory-the dropsy of the
brain, from which the name originates, being merely the effect
of the previous inflammation.
Children are more liable than adults to inflammation of the
brain. This is easily explained-the head of the child is very
large in proportion to the rest of the body, and receives a
proportionately large quantity of blood-the circulation is
more rapid, and from the proximity of the heart to the head,
the blood is propelled to the brain with greater freedom, if
not greater force, than in manhood-the nervous system, of
which the brain is the centre, is exceedingly excitable in
young persons; and, as in them a very intimate sympathy
exists between the different parts of the frame, they are so
much the more obnoxious to the exciting causes of inflamma-
tion generally, and of the brain in particular. A local pain,
which in older persons would produce no constitutional dis-
turbance, occurring in a child, will throw the nervous system
into a state of dangerous excitement. Hence it happens, that
teething, and worms, and other intestinal irritants, so fre-
quently act as the exciting causes of Hydrocephalus.
The great fatality which attends this disease, added to the
insidious manner in which it often creeps upon its victim,
renders it especially incumbent upon those who have the
charge of children, to be watchful of the first symptoms of
its approach. Here, as in many other diseases, it is upon
judicious treatment, applied in the earliest stages, that our
greatest chance of success depends. A few days' delay may
render impracticable a cure, which, commenced earlier, might
have been accomplished with comparative facility. It will
be observed in the annexed cases, that the patients had been
148
HYDROCEPHALUS,
declining in health some time anterior to the more decided
manifestations of the disease; they had fallen off in their
appetites; had been disordered in their insides; become list-
less and inactive; complained of headache; had had restless.
nights, and started in their sleep, as if frightened by unplea-
sant dreams: these are the premonitory symptoms, against
which it behoves the friends of the little creatures to be care-
fully on their guard.
We have alluded to the dangerous character of this disorder.
Its incurableness has passed into a medical proverb; and it
must be confessed that the results of the old system of treat-
ment, have supplied plausible grounds for such an impression.
I have, myself, tested all the usual Allopathic remedies: have
bled by lancet and leech, applied blisters and other counter-
irritants, used ice to the head, endeavoured to salivate by
mercury employed in every conceivable shape-with the
uniformly unfortunate result of losing every patient that ever
came under my care, with one solitary exception.
Since I began to practice Homœopathy it has fallen to my lot
to treat, perhaps, more than an average number of these cases;
and, though I cannot boast of having saved them all, I yet
have the satisfaction of knowing that my efforts have been
crowned with an amount of success, such as before I should
never have anticipated.
CASE I.-I. W-, a boy, aged 2 years, of thin, spare habit, and
delicate constitution.
April 24th, 1846.-Has been prescribed for two or three times since
the 15th, having been subject to crying fits, and drawing up of his legs,
as if pained in his stomach: there was a curious convulsive movement of
the tongue from corner to corner of his mouth; he also threw his head
back, and turned up his eyes, unnaturally. The principal suffering
however, was referable to his stomach. For the relief of these symptoms
be had
Chamomilla and Bryonia.
OR, WATER ON THE BRAIN.
147
This morning unequivocal symptoms of water on the brain manifest
themselves, in repeated, unnatural, loud, piercing screams; accompanied
by a forcible jerking backwards of the head and shoulders, which effort
partially arouses him out of a drowsy stupor, in which he at other times
remains : his eyes are sunk; the eyelids half closed, and the pupils con-
tracted; his head is burning hot; cheeks at times flushed; the rest of
the body, especially the legs and feet, cool: pulse rather slow,
and labouring; his tongue is coated with thick, white, and yellow
mucus; and the papillæ are prominent: his bowels act regularly.
Take Belladonna 6th, and Mercurius 6th, alternately.
28th.-Four days later. During the first two days there was little or
no amendment; on the contrary, the symptoms seemed to gain ground:
he became hot and flushed; there was complete insensibility; dilated
pupils; rolling of the head, and other convulsive movements-the same
uncarthly screams, &c. On the third day Helleborus 6th was alternated
with Mercurius; from that time a decided improvement commenced, and
to-day there has been no screaming; the head is cooler; the eyes less
sunken, and look bright and intelligent; he recognises his parents, and
understands what is said to him. He still li s on his back, and rolls his
head, at times; his tongue is cleaning: his bowels act regularly once a
day.
Continue the same medicines.
29th. He has slept soundly for the first time during his illness,
without any convulsive movement whatever. His head is of a natural
warmth. there is no tossing or rolling; no thirst; he may, in short, be
pronounced out of danger. Not to tire the reader with further minute
details, it will be sufficient to state, that his recovery from this time was
rapid and satisfactory; and that on the 2d of May he was sitting up,
playing with his toys. He continued the Mercurius for a day or two
longer; and then had Sulphur to complete the cure. Medical men will
recognise in this sketch, one of those alarming and unpromising cases, in
the treatment of which the ordinary remedies hold out not the slightest
hopes of recovery.
CASE II.-Henry L-, a boy, aged 6 years.
September 20th, 1847.-Has been drooping some time: the last week
so much so, as to induce his parents to take him to a druggist, who pre.
scribed a powder and mixture. He has now all the symptoms of brain
150
HYDROCEPHALUS,
disease, accompanied by gastric derangement: lies doubled up in bed,
his knees drawn up to his stomach; cannot bear the abdomen to be
touched; is very drowsy and heavy; and when not disturbed, remains
constantly in a stupor, with half-closed eyes, and open mouth. When
aroused, and also at other times, he starts and screams out in a loud,
piercing cry his features are sunk; his mouth and nostrils sore, dry,
and black; his tongue dry, contracted, and thickly coated, brown and
yellow; the edges and papilla being of a deep red colour. The skin of
the whole body, more particularly of the head and abdomen, dry and hot.
He is thirsty, and has no appetite. His bowels are rather relaxed, and
the evacuations unhealthy. His pulse beats 125 in the minute, and
is hard, and incompressible. He is harassed by a short, hacking
cough.
Take Arsenicum 6th, every four hours.
22d.-Much the same, except that the tongue appears to be cleaning
at the edges, and there is not so much thirst.
Continue Arsenicum 6th, every four hours.
25th. The symptoms remaining much the same, with some shades
only of amendment, he is ordered
Helleborus 6th, every four hours.
27th. Decided improvement. Tongue moist, and clearing rapidly;
skin cool; very little thirst; pulse more natural, and soft; his eyes
are clear and bright, he opens them wide, and looks intelligent, and
calm; little or no screaming; and he remains awake nearly all
day.
He continued the medicine, and in a few days was perfectly re-
stored.
CASE III.-G. L-, a boy, aged 3 years.
June 19th, 1847.-Was taken poorly three or four days ago with
disordered bowels, and two evenings since fell into the state in which he
now remains; namely, drowsy and heavy in the head, which he hangs
back over his mother's arm, displaying the greatest repugnance to being
moved or disturbed; his brow is knit and frowning; eyelids drooping;
pupils contracted; the eye dull, and inexpressive; his head, as well as
the body generally, hot and dry; breathing short; pulse 160 in the
minute, and throbbing; is very thirsty; cannot bear the least noise, and
avoids the light. His tongue is white and thickly coated; bowels still
OR, WATER ON THE BRAIN.
151
unhealthy and irregular; he is exceedingly weak, his limbs hang about
powerless, and he wastes away.
Take Aconite 12th, and Belladonna 12th, alternately, at intervals of
four hours.
20th.-Was delirious the greater part of the night, but this morning
is wonderfully improved; his skin is perfectly cool; pulse fallen from
160 to 100. He is not nearly so thirsty. His eyes look heavy, and he
still frowns, at times.
Omit the Aconite, and continue the Belladonna.
21st.-There is an increase of the stupor; but his skin is still cool;
pulse rather labouring.
Take Helleborus 6th, every four hours.
22d. Very considerable amendment: he is comparatively cheerful
and lively, and asks for food, which he has hitherto loathed. His tongue
is cleaning fast; he has very little thirst.
Continue Helleborus.
From this time he appeared to recover perfectly: he took his food;
ran about the house; slept well; and complained of nothing but an
occasional headache.
On July the 2d, he was brought labouring under a temporary relapse:
feverish; heavy in head; and frowning.
Take Bryonia 3d, every four hours.
3d. Greatly relieved in every respect. He had another supply of
medicine, under the influence of which he got quite well.
CASE IV.-M. A. M—, a girl, 21 years old.
June 17th, 1847.-Has been falling off in health for some time past.
Three nights ago, whilst in bed, was very hot and feverish, and poorly
the next day. Yesterday she became very ill indeed, lying about the
room, complaining of headache, and referring all her suffering to that
part. She is now drowsy and heavy; eyelids drooping; eyes sunk deep
in their sockets; mouth closely puckered up; cheeks flushed; head and
the rest of the body dry and hot; pulse quick and throbbing; tongue
coated white, with red projecting papilla; she is very thirsty; her
breathing is quick, and there is some bronchial cough; the bowels
are quite regular. She avoids the light, and is distressed by the
least noise; she starts suddenly from her sleep, and screams, as if
frightened.
Take Aconite 12th, every four hours.
152
HYDROCEPHALUS.
18th. No amendment. Still drowsy; screaming and starting con-
stantly; hot and thirsty.
Take Belladonna 6th, every two hours.
19th.-Wonderfully relieved: fever and thirst greatly diminished ;
slept well, and only required a little drink twice in the night; no
screams or starts; her tongue is cleaning; the child looks placid
and intelligent; she sat up in bed this morning, and chatted to her father.
Continue Belladonna, three times a day.
22d. Still much better-indeed all but well. She continued her
medicine a few days longer; and without the recurrence of any unto-
ward symptom was perfectly restored.
CASE V.-E. B-, a girl, aged 7 years,
January 17th, 1848.-From the description given of her previous
health, she has evidently been falling off for some time past; she is now
labouring under premonitory symptoms of Hydrocephalus-the most.
urgent being referable to the bowels, which are much relaxed, and other-
wise in an unhealthy condition.
Take Mercurius 6th, three times a day.
19th.-Considerably worse: stupid, heavy, lethargic; starts and
screams; is hot in head, feverish, and thirsty; her tongue dry, and
coated brown.
Take Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
22d.—Still worse: perfectly lethargic, and unconscious of every-
thing; she screams and starts terribly; rolls her head; lips, tongue,
and teeth, black and dry, and covered with thick, hard, offensive matter;
pulse very rapid; skin and head very hot.
Take Helleborus 12th, Rhus 12th, every four hours, alternately.
24th. Decided improvement in all the symptoms: lips and tongue
moist, and cleaning; more quiet and intelligent, and no screaming.
Continue the medicines.
26th.-Progressive amendment: tongue and lips clean; head, and
skin generally cool; bowels act healthily: she wants food.
Continue Helleborus.
29th.-Doing exceedingly well in all respects: sits up in bed, takes
notice, and plays with her toys; tongue clean; bowels regular; no
thirst; sleeps soundly.
Take a few doses of Sulphur.
February 1st.-Cured.
*
DELIRIUM TREMENS.
Or all the vices which meet with their punishment on this
side of the grave, there is none to which is attached so sure
and ready a retribution as drunkenness. Decay of health
and fortune are its first fruits; and if the wretched devotee
be permitted to pass the summer-time of life, premature
decrepitude of body, and imbecility of mind, are his autumn
gatherings. There is yet another fate that may await him-
death, impatient of his prey, may claim his victim in his mid-
career. If he do so, the instrument with which he commonly
strikes the fatal blow, is delirium tremens.
Though not invariably the result of over indulgence in
spirituous drinks, it is so in so large a majority of instances,
as to have obtained for it the popular name of the "drunk-
ard's disease." A more awful malady can hardly be con-
ceived. Its most striking symptoms, as its name implies, are
delirium, and trembling. The latter shows itself chiefly in
the hands; the patient being unable to hold anything
steadily. To give a description of the delirium, would be to
depict all the horrors which the human mind, robbed of its
reasoning powers, is capable of enduring. "Objects of the
most appalling description sometimes present themselves to
the patient's imagination; he will be possessed with the idea
that he is persecuted by evil spirits, who are on the point of
carrying him away, or are preparing to destroy him; or he
may fancy he is surrounded by assassins; and cases are
recorded where the unfortunate sufferers actually expired
while exerting themselves to the utmost, to ward off the
violence they supposed was intended them. Sometimes the
most whimsical notions arise: thus a patient will imagine
that rats or mice, or other troublesome vermin, are running
7 S
154
DELIRIUM TREMENS.
over him, or near him; that he is employed in drawing
ribands from the ends of his fingers, with numberless extra-
vagancies of a similar nature." This is a picture of the
disease in a severe form; but it presents itself in every shade
of violence, from the slight bodily indisposition, mental
depression, and watchfulness, which mark its first stage, up
to that point which terminates in raving madness and death.
It is fortunate when the medical man's assistance is sought
in the earliest stages of the complaint, since it is then that
his services are of most avail. When it has been neglected
and allowed to become confirmed, especially in habitual drunk-
ards, the prognostication is generally unfavorable-always
doubtful.
The treatment of delirium tremens under the old system,
notwithstanding that it appears to have found something like
a point of general consent in the use of opium, is neverthe-
less, in some respects, involved in difficulties.
The disease is supposed to consist rather in irritation than
in inflammation of the brain. Whilst in some cases the
symptoms of the latter state are unequivocal, and in many
others it is very difficult to distinguish clearly between these
two conditions, in both, bleeding is supposed to be requisite.
The difficulty consists in determining when it should be
adopted, and to what extent it should be carried. Imagine
an inexperienced man called upon to decide this knotty
point, with the following passage for his guide. "In young
and vigorous subjects, and where there exists evidence of
local determination, a single moderate bleeding from the
arm, or the application of leeches to the temples, or behind
the ears, may prove useful; but the bleeding should never be
large, and very seldom will it be proper to repeat it; while
generally speaking, it should be rejected, as a practice which
has too often done mischief, and has not unfrequently destroyed
the patient." 2
¹ Dr. H. M. Carter, Cyclopædia, Practical Medicine.'
• Ibid.
DELIRIUM TREMENS.
155
That man must be endowed with uncommon visual acute-
ness, who could see his way clear by the light of such a rule;
and possessed of more boldness than discretion, if, to obtain
the doubtful benefit of bleeding, he would be content to incur
the fearful risk attached to that operation. Without decrying
the unquestionable power of large doses of opium in this
disease, my experience leads me to believe, that all the
good which it can achieve, may be obtained quite as effec-
tually, and much more safely, by this and other medicines,
in Homœopathic quantities. It has fallen to my lot to treat
eight or nine cases since I embraced Homoeopathy. The
two most violent out of the number terminated fatally; but
it is a remarkable fact, that in both those instances, from the
intervention of Allopathic advice, opium was administered in
large doses. In one case the patient fell into a profound
stupor, from which he never awoke. In the other-after
sleeping for some time, he suddenly roused up, fell back in a
convulsive shudder, and expired in a moment.
What might
have been the result, had the Homœopathic treatment been
continued, it is of course impossible to determine-but this
is certain, that up to the time when the change of treatment
was adopted, one of the cases was progressing so favorably, as
to hold out some hope of a successful issue.
CASE I.—Mr. F—, aged 36 years. Dark hair, florid com-
plexion. His occupation leads him to drink large quantities.
of wine, and other stimulants.
March 22d, 1848.—I received a note this morning, whilst dressing,
requesting my immediate attendance upon this patient, who, it was
represented, was "awfully nervous, and going out of his mind." I
found him in bed, in a state of much excitement and agitation. He
had been drinking hard for a week previously; had felt poorly two or
three days, and yesterday was taken very unwell. He has hardly had a
moment's sleep the last two nights; he is afraid to close his eyes, for as
soon as he does so, he starts up in terror. His look is anxious, and
his eye, glistening, quick, and restless; he is constantly jumping up in
¦
156
DELIRIUM TREMENS.
bed, for no purpose, and suddenly lying down again, being unable to
remain in one position more than a minute or two together. His
hands tremble like an aspen-leaf; his skin is hot, and perspiring; pulse
quick, and thumping, but easily compressible; his tongue is white,
and foul; and he is very thirsty. He has already taken Calomel and
Colocynth pills, saline medicines, and a dose or two of Opium, with no
other result than that just described.
To remain in bed, and take Nux Vomica 3d, every hour.
Nine o'clock in the evening.-He relates, that after the second dose
of the medicine, he felt an extraordinary change come over him: all
his nervousness vanished as by a charm, and he became perfectly calm
and composed. He took some light nourishment, dressed himself, and
went out and attended to some business, on which he was occupied
several hours. After this he returned to bed, where I now find him,
free from excitement, and to all appearance well.
To take two or three doses of the medicines, at longer intervals.
Cured.
CASE II.-T. C—, aged 50 years. Dark complexion, irritable
temper.
:
May 24th, 1848.-Ten o'clock, night. Has been addicted to drinking
many years. In his struggles to conquer this unfortunate propensity,
he has several times taken "the pledge," and become a teetotaller ;
but, sharing the fate of too many others who contend with a long
indulged appetite, he relapsed into his former habits, and is now in the
eighth week of his intemperance. He began to feel the ill effects a
month ago became queer and inconsistent in his actions and conver-
sation; irritable, impatient, and unsettled in temper; he lost his
appetite; and got restless and disturbed nights. The last ten days,
getting more and more lost, he has not been able to attend to his
business; and to-day is in bed, exhibiting in a severe degree, the
symptoms of delirium tremens. He gets no sound sleep-dozing only
in snatches of a few minutes at a time, and awaking in "fits of mad-
ness."
He fancies there are a number of persons in his room, when
only his wife is present; at times he does not know her, and mistakes
one person for another; imagines he is in another place than his own
house; is constantly talking about building; sees curious houses moving
about his bed-room; and betrays other oddities, which it would be use-
DELIRIUM TREMENS,
157
ess to namie. His pulse is quick and full; skin hot; he is very thirsty;
and his tongue is dry and parched. There is not much trembling; but
he is exceedingly weak, and his movements are unsteady.
Take Nux Vomica 3d, every two hours.
25th.-Noon. Eight hours after the first dose of medicine, he fell
into a sound sleep, in which he remained the greater part of the night,
and awoke an altered person: his mind calm and collected; his nerves
quiet; his thirst abated; his skin cool and perspiring; and his pulse
steady. He got up about nine o'clock, and walked some distance to his
office; not to do any business, but for the purpose of "showing himself."
His wife asserts that he has not had so good a night as the last, nor
been so comfortable in the day, as he is now, for a considerable time
past.
To live moderately, and take a few more doses of Nux Vomica.
Beyond this he received no medical attendance.
CASE III.-C. J--, aged 29 years. A stout, muscular man.
May 2d, 1847.-6 p.m. At intervals indulges to excess, and is always
stupid for a day or two after. He got drunk yesterday, and to-day
has complained of headache, and loss of appetite, and has not been able
to go to his business. He has been restless, getting in and out of bed
repeatedly, walking about the room, and could not be induced to sit
down; has been very taciturn all day; scarcely uttering a word to any
one. Half an hour ago he was seized with a fit, and fell on to the floor,
and became strongly convulsed. He is now lying at full length on his
back; the shaking of the limbs-a kind of universal tremor-returning
every four or five minutes, and at longer intervals; this is superseded
by a strong convulsive action of the muscles of the back, by which his
body becomes arched forward, and his whole weight rests on his head
and heels. His breathing at the same time becomes irregular, choking,
and spasmodic. He rolls his head; his eyes are fixed and glassy; the
pupils becoming alternately widely dilated, and strongly contracted.
I immediately placed a few globules of Nux Vomica on his tongue,
repeated the dose at the end of fifteen minutes, and sat down to watch
the result.
In half an hour the convulsions entirely ceased. He sat up; event-
ually stood up, and was led to his bed. He gradually recovered more
consciousness, and then relapsed into a kind of mental imbecility; kept
158
DELIRIUM TREMens.
constantly kissing at the bystanders, and making other ridiculous signs
and gesticulations.
Take one more dose of Nux Vomica, and then Belladonna 3d,
every two hours.
3d.-Did not sleep at all last night; was restless; getting in and
out of bed: talking incoherently of policemen, robbers, &c. Since
ten o'clock this morning he has mended considerably; becoming less
loquacious, and answering questions with more rationality; but when
his attention is not arrested, he rambles a good deal in his ideas. His
skin is cool; pulse small and quick.
Continue the Belladonna.
4th.-A little better than yesterday. No sleep; paroxysms of
irritability.
Take Nux Vomica 3d, and Opium 3d, alternately, every four hours.
5th. Was violent at eleven last night; at twelve fell asleep, and
with short intervals, slept soundly till seven this morning. He is now,
at noon, perfectly quiet, and only occasionally talks a little at random.
Pulse soft; skin cool.
Continue the medicines.
6th.—There has been little or no wandering since yesterday. At
eight in the evening there was a slight return of the tremor of the
limbs, which lasted half an hour.
Take Belladonna 3d, every six hours.
7th. He is quite calm and collected; there is no wandering; he
takes food; sleeps well; and is altogether so far restored as to require
no further attendance at his own abode.
He took Nux Vomica, for two or three days longer; gradually
recovered his strength of mind and body; and was discharged, cured.
CASE IV.-Mr. W. D-, aged 30 years. For years past an
habitual drunkard. The effects of his intemperance have
been gradually developing themselves in tremblings of the
hands, unsteady speech, irritability of temper, loss of appetite,
and frequent empty vomitings in the morning.
tr
January 31st, 1848.-The foregoing symptoms have become much
aggravated by a a drunken bout" of several days' duration. He is
now in a pitiable condition: one seldom sees a man so thoroughly
altered in mind and body. He is restless and agitated; twisting and
DELIRIUM TREMENS.
159
,
turning about in every direction. He cannot utter a sentence correctly,
and his lips tremble as he speaks. A general tremor pervades his whole
body; he gets no sleep, and if by chance he drops off for a few
moments, he is tormented by horrible dreams. He is confused and
dizzy in his head: exceedingly irritable and excitable in temper. He is
very thirsty; his tongue is "as dry as a chip," and he is forced to keep
it constantly moistened to enable him to speak or swallow. His
stomach rejects everything he takes; and he has an accumulation of
phlegm in the chest and throat, which he is unable to expectorate, and
by which he fears he will be suffocated. His pulse is small, rapid,
unsteady, and compressible. His skin is covered with a clammy
perspiration.
Take Nux Vomica 3d, every two hours; Opium 3d, at bedtime.
The next day, February 1st, he attends at my house, infinitely
relieved. He slept pretty well during the night.
Has vomited only once, and that slightly; is much more steady in
his limbs and hands; and more calm and comfortable in mind. His
tongue is moist, and he is not so thirsty. Pulse more regular, and less
frequent, but still small and weak. He has taken a little light food.
He continued the remedies two days longer-taking the Nux Vomica
less frequently; and left my care better than he had been for a consider-
able time previously.
APOPLEXY.
THIS disease is usually divided into two stages, viz.: the
premonitory or threatening stage, and the actual seizure.
Neither of these is constant. The former may pass off without
leading to an apoplectic attack: the latter may supervene
without any forewarning. Respecting the predisposing and
exciting causes of these two conditions, and the exact state of
the brain at the time, there is the utmost uncertainty. The
fact that it is customary to quote almost every circumstance or
condition of life, physical as well as moral, as favouring its de-
velopment, and the general admission that it may originate
equally in the most opposite conditions of the brain, so far
from throwing any useful light upon the subject, do but prove
that our nearest approximation to the truth amounts to nothing
more than conjecture.
Under such contradictory circumstances, one would have
expected medical men to hesitate before they adopted, with
unquestioning faith, any particular mode of treatment not
regulated by unerring rules; or, at least, to have ensured that
it should be of such a character, as, if misapplied, it should
lead to no injurious results. Yet what is the fact? Why,
that the Allopathist, notwithstanding his incapability of
determining whether the attack consist in the rupture of
a vessel, serous effusion, a congested, or an exhausted
state of the brain-never doubting the propriety of the step,
but almostas a rule-resorts at once to the abstraction of
blood.
This custom, it is true, has, within the last few years, owing
to the spread of more correct views on the subject of apoplexy,
received something like a check; yet, from the operation of a
variety of causes, so little has this alteration of opinion
APOPLEXY.
161
influenced the general practice, that bleeding may still be pro-
nounced the universal remedy.
It must not be supposed from these remarks, which are
aimed at the indiscriminate adoption of a routine and hazard-
ous practice, that Homœopathy, any more than Allopathy,
pretends to cure every apoplectic patient; on the contrary, it
is well known that there are many cases (as for example,
where, from the rupture of a vessel, a large quantity of blood
becomes effused and presses upon the brain), in which all
medical treatment must, from a physical necessity, prove un-
availing. In an instance of this kind, the two systems, as far
as relates to a cure, are on an equality; but as far as they
affect the duration of the patient's existence, there is this dif-
ference-that bleeding, by its weakening operation, hastens the
final catastrophe, while the nature of the Homœopathic reme-
dies renders it impossible that they should ever exercise such
a tendency.
Again, if the case be not one of effusion, but of debility of
the brain, or an enfeebled state of the general circulation, then
bleeding, being in no case a cure for such a condition, instead
of acting beneficially, can only increase the existing evil. Here
also Homœopathy enjoys a decided advantage.
Coming lastly to the premonitory or threatening stage-
that stage in which medical treatment, judiciously applied,
may be really serviceable-the difficulties which attach to
bleeding again present themselves. We can at the best only
make a guess at the state of the brain, and cannot therefore
determine whether, or not, it will be benefited by the loss of
blood. Unnecessarily adopted, the discovery of the error is
then too late-we cannot reinstate the patient in his former
condition. Awarding to this remedy all the merit its advocates
claim, that of subduing the heart's action, and so lessening the
impetus with which the blood is propelled to the head,
even here also it falls far below Aconite and some other
remedies. Thus, in whatever point of comparison we view the
two systems, the advantage is equally on the side of Homoeo-
pathy.
162
APOPLEXY.
The manner in which an apoplectic fit comes on, varies
much in different cases. There are, however, two modes
which so greatly predominate over every other as to warrant
a division of the subject into the gradual, and the sudden,
seizure. The latter is too well known to need description.
The former comprehends what may be termed the premonitory
symptoms. These are very various, but are all referable to a
disordered state of the sensorium; the most constant, and that
which causes most alarm, being vertigo, or swimming of the
head.
Connected not uncommonly with derangement of the di-
gestive functions, this symptom is also frequently excited by
other sympathies of a less obvious nature. When mild, and
not mixed with any other distinct apoplectic tendency, it is
generally amenable to abstinence and to the avoidance of any
special cause to which it may be traceable.
Our present business is with those severer cases in which
the symptoms are of that aggravated type that, unless
speedily relieved, reasonably lead one to fear the accession of
serious consequences. This condition is treated, Allopathically,
much in the same way as the apoplectic seizure, viz., by
bleeding, purgatives, and other active measures. We have
seen in what respects this treatment is inferior to the
Homœopathic.
Beyond this, I do not deem it necessary to dwell on the
subject, but proceed at once to detail a few illustrative cases;
first of the threatening stage, and then of the apoplectic
attack.
CASE I.—W. H—, aged 50. Very steady and temperate
in his habits.
June 13th, 1847.-Seized yesterday, at two o'clock, whilst loading
his cart, with dizziness and staggering, which caused him to hold by a
post to prevent falling. He recovered himself a little and attempted to
drive, but had not procceded many steps before he fell two or three
APOPLEXY.
163
times ou to his hands, and when he got up could not stand without sup-
port. He became confused in his sight, and could scarcely distinguish
the road. He has now a general aching in the head, with a sensation of
lightness and swimming, as soon as he moves; his forehead is unnaturally
hot, his pulse slow and throbbing. He has a little stitch in the right
side under the rib; no thirst; tongue moist and clean; bowels regular;
light causes him no inconvenience.
Take Nux Vomica 6th, every four hours.
14th. He is so much better as to be able to walk to my house, a
short distance from his own, without assistance. He began to mend in
the afternoon, and now has a slight headache with a little dizziness at
times. There is also occasionally a singing in the right ear. He has a
better appetite to-day; his bowels have acted healthily, and he has no
pain in the side.
Continue the medicine.
17th.—Much better still, although there is yet a little dizziness when
he stoops or walks fast. Feels very weak.
Take two doses of China 3d, six hours apart; then Sulphur 12th,
two doses, at the same intervals.
19th. He can stoop to tie his shoes; is cheerful; nearly as active as
usual; and in other respects, well.
Repeat the medicines.
21st.—He has simply a momentary return of swimming, once or twice
in the day.
Take Conium 6th, twice a day. Cured.
CASE II.-W. D—, aged 31. Stout built and florid com-
plexion. Is very temperate. He has been liable to dizziness,
off and on, for years, and has been bled for it. He has now
been suffering a month, and is forced to leave his work in con-
sequence.
June 29th, 1847.-He complains of a hard, thumping, plunging pain
in the head, attended with dizziness and swimming. He is worse lying
down, when everything seems to run round, and he sees sparks flying
about before his eyes. His sleep is disturbed and unrefreshing. His
appetite lately has been very bad. His pulse is not much accelerated.
He thinks bleeding would do him good.
Take Aconite 2d, directly; six hours hence Belladonna 12th,
and repeat it three times a day.
164
APOPLEXY.
July 2d.-Better. He still feels worse in bed, especially on waking;
the pain is now chiefly at the back part of the head.
Take Bryonia, three times a day.
5th. Great improvement. He has slept soundly the last three nights.
He has no dizziness or swimming, and his eyesight is clearer. He feels
very weak, and has still no appetite.
Take China 3d, once a day.
7th.—Head seems quite right. He feels stronger, and his appetite is
returning.
Continue.
10th.—Had a slight return of headache for about two hours, yesterday
-otherwise quite well.
CASE III.-I. D—, aged 41 years; by no means robust,
though generally in the enjoyment of pretty good health.
September 21st, 1848.-Has felt queer and confused in the head, and
in other ways getting out of order for the last week. He went to a
medical man, a day or two ago, and had some aperient medicine which
did him no good. Yesterday he drank a little more beer than usual, and
this morning is unable to go to his business. Though perfectly sober,
he is led here staggering and reeling exactly like a drunken man; he ap-
pears to have lost nearly all command over his movements; the left side
partakes most of the paralytic affection; the arm hanging powerless by
the side, and the leg being scarcely more obedient to the will. It is
with great difficulty he can sit in his chair without being held; he hangs
his head; speaks thickly and indistinctly; and breathes spasmodically ;
is thirsty at times, and dry in the mouth; is very sleepy.
Opium 3d, every two hours.
22d.—He feels altogether better; walks more steadily, can raise his
left arm; his head, though still feeling tight and "cased up," is com-
paratively cool, clear, and light. He complains of epigastric tender-
ness, and is troubled with unpleasant, flatulent, eructations. There is
also some bronchial irritation and cough. He perspires at times very
freely.
Nux Vomica 6th, every six hours.
23d.--Still progressing favorably; but little unsteadiness in
his gait; he can see to read, and speaks quickly and distinctly. He
complains, yet, of heaviness, fulness, and pressure in the head, aggra-
APOPLEXY.
165
vated into pain when he coughs. Is tight in the chest, and coughs
a good deal; acid risings in the throat; pulse full and compres-
sible.
Bryonia 6th, three times a day.
25th.-Rapid amendment. Has no pain in the head, which feels cool,
clear, and comfortable. His chest is easy, and his cough does not
trouble him. His stomach is much better, and tongue clean. There is
a little wavering in his step occasionally, and he still feels weak.
Take Rhus 12th, twice a day.
Subsequently to this he had China and Sulphur; and resumed his em-
ployment in a few days.
CASE IV.-H. M—, a married woman, aged 50 years.
Tolerably stout, and generally in the enjoyment of good
health.
February 5th, 1847.-Has felt heavy in the head at times for the last
fortnight about four days ago she was seized with a heavy dizziness, as
if she had received a blow on the head: this passed off, and she felt
pretty well till three hours ago; when, sitting at work with her needle,
she felt again as if she had been struck violently on the right side of the
head. Without falling from her seat, she lost all consciousness; her
head fell on one side, and her breathing became stertorous. This con-
dition lasted some hours, when she gradually revived, and found that
she had lost the use of the right arm, leg, and foot. The head now feels
like a dead weight, and there is some pain at the top of it. Her pulse is
full and hard; skin hot; she vomited as soon as she came to; though,
at her dinner, which was taken some hours before the attack, she had
eaten nothing indigestible.
Take Nux Vomica 3d, every four hours.
6th. An astonishing amendment: her head is nearly well, feeling
only some heaviness at the back part. The use of the leg and arm has
returned to a great extent.
Continue the medicine.
7th. Still further improvement has almost recovered the entire use
of her limbs. She had a slight threatening of a return of the attack to-
day in a feeling of faintness, and numbness in the tongue, and deep-
seated pain in the head.
Take Lachesis 12th, three times a day.
166
APOPLEXY.
She continued this medicine three or four days, when, feeling
perfectly well, further medical attendance was not considered neces-
sary.
CASE V.—A. Y—, aged 70 years. A man of herculean stature,
robust of his age; stout, plethoric, and accustomed to take
large quantities of stimulants.
April 28th, 1847.-Was seized in the middle of the day with severe
pain in the head, followed in a short time by paralysis of the right
side of the face, and numbness and partial loss of power in the right
arm.
On visiting him at eleven o'clock at night, he presents the above con-
dition; with the exception that the pain in the head has subsided into
a heavy, confused sensation. He is sitting up in his chair, speaks ra-
tionally and collectedly, but his articulation is considerably impaired.
The mouth is completely drawn to one side-but the paralysis does not
extend to the tongue. He complains of a sense of fulness and thickness
about the throat. His head is preternaturally hot; his pulse is firm,
regular, and a little accelerated.
Take Nux Vomica 6th, every four hours.
29th. The head is much relieved; it does not feel so heavy and
confused, and is also cooler to the hand. In other respects he is much
the same, and does not feel particularly ill.
Repeat the medicine every 6 hours.
It is useless to particularise this case, further than to say, that he
continued the Nux Vomica once in twenty-four hours, for a week or
ten days longer; that from the first the muscles of the face, as well as
the arm and hand, gradually recovered their tone; and that at the
end of about a fortnight there was scarcely any trace of the attack re-
maining. Since then he has had a severe attack of dysentery; from
which also he perfectly recovered, and has from that time up to the
present, enjoyed excellent health.
INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.
THE beautiful mechanism of the eye, and the admirable
adaption of its different parts to the performance of their
respective functions, is too well known to need description. All
these different parts are at times the seats of disease. Those
which attack the inner portions of the organ-the optic nerve,
crystalline lens, &c.-are for the most part of a painless and
chronic character, and often result in blindness: such are
cataract and amaurosis: whilst those which affect the outer
and anterior membranes, are of an active and excedingly pain-
ful kind, but do not so often interfere permanently with the
enjoyment of vision. By far the most common of these is
ophthalmia, or “inflammation of the eye." It is not necessary
to enter into a minute detail of its symptoms. It will be
sufficient to state, that the most constant are redness, more or
less intense, of the white of the eye, pain and great intolerance
of light, and a preternatural flow of tears, or a discharge of
matter. These are commonly attended, like severe affections
of other important organs, with constitutional derangement,
such as fever, thirst, and headache.
There is perhaps no other disease, with the ordinary treat-
ment of which, in its general principles, the world at large is
so well acquainted. Cupping, leeching, blisters, fomentations,
&c., are the universally acknowledged remedies. The second
of these in particular, holds here undisputed sway, and the
abolition of its employment in this one disease, would go very
far towards banishing the leech from the list of remedial
agents. There is, however, one drawback upon its indiscrimi-
nate use, which exercises considerable influence over the pub-
lic mind, and, although not acknowledged by the profession,
is beyond a doubt, well-founded: I allude to the popular fear,
168
INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.
lest the abstraction of blood by leeches should weaken the eye.
There can be no question, that the withdrawal of blood under
any circumstances, has a tendency to produce weakness of
the system generally, and especially of any organ which may
at the time be diseased. That being the case, it follows of
necessity, that the application of leeches for the relief of in-
flammatory diseases of the eye, must leave its vessels in a de-
bilitated condition, and more liable than they would otherwise
be, to put on diseased action at a future time. This is pe-
culiarly the case as regards children, in whom these diseases
rarely show themselves except as concomitants of scofula. In-
dicating, in the highest degree, a want of constitutional
stamina, this taint as strongly interdicts the employment of
debilitating measures for the removal of any local complaint.
Unfortunately for the Allopathist, all his remedies for active
inflammation are of that description; and, as a necessary con-
sequence, in treating scrofulous ophthalmia, he finds himself,
like Garrick between Comedy and Tragedy, or Macheath in
the Beggar's Opera, distracted by contending claimants: the
eye requiring depletion; the constitution, tonics. To over-
come the difficulty, he adopts both classes of remedies; and,
endeavouring to amalgamate things so palpably incongruous,
he fails in the attempt, and is only successful in accomplishing
-nothing!
Homœopathy, also, has its difficulties, but they arise from
the inherently intractable nature of the disease, and not from
any incongruity in the remedies. These, while they act
directly upon the local malady, at the same time invigorate the
general health. Witness the following cases:
CASE I.—Mrs. W—, aged 34 years. Spare, delicate woman.
June 16th, 1848.—The left eye has been inflamed three weeks. Get-
ting considerably worse, she went, about a week ago, to one of the
ophthalmic hospitals; where, at different times, she was cupped on the
temple, leeched, had the eye scarified, and took a good deal of medicine.
From all this she obtained no relief whatever. She is now suffering in-
INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.
169
tensely, not only from the disease of the eye, but also from sympathetic
pain in the forehead and other surrounding parts. She is much dis-
ordered in her general health, being feverish, hot, and thirsty; having
no appetite, and feeling exceedingly weak. The eye itself is so excru-
ciatingly painful on the least admission of light, that I can get only a
momentary glimpse at it; it is then discovered to be intensely red; and
there is a constant discharge of tears.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 6th, alternately, every four hours.
19th.-Wonderfully better in every respect. She has no pain either
in the forehead or eye. She can open the eye with comparative
facility, and suffers but very little inconvenience from the light;
it is very much less inflamed, but being now able to examine it
deliberately and completely, two small ulcers are detected on the
cornea.
Aconite and Mercurius 12th, alternately, at longer intervals.
21st.-Amendment still uninterrupted; suffers no pain, can open the
eye freely, see well, and attend to her household matters. There is but
slight redness remaining on the conjunctiva, and the ulcers are fast dis-
appearing. Her health has greatly improved; all the constitutional dis-
turbance has subsided. She has a good appetite, and is fast recovering
her strength.
Sulphur 12th, at bed time, every night, for a week.
She got perfectly well without further medical attendance.
CASE II.-C. C-, a boy, aged 2 years. A weak, sallow-
looking, scrofulous child. Had a severe attack of imflam-
mation of the lungs a year ago, for which he was repeatedly
leeched, &c., and has ever since remained exceedingly deli-
cate.
February 2d, 1847.-He has now been ill about eighteen hours. The
left upper eyelid is inflamed, and so much swollen as to project out con-
siderably beyond the level of the face; it is also much elongated, and
entirely overlaps and hides the lower lid, so as to render it impossible to
get a view of the eye itself. The other eyelid is also red, and partially
swollen; and the eye is injected and intolerant of light; to avoid which
he hangs his head down as low as possible. There is a discharge of
thick, yellow matter, from both eyes, but most copious from the left.
8
170
INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.
He has a cold, cough, and running at the nose; and a good deal of fever
and thirst.
Take two doses of Aconite 6th, then Belladonna 6th, every two or
three hours.
3d.-The left eye is considerably relieved: the right one is now much
worse; the eyelid swollen as large as a walnut.
Take Aconite 12th, and Mercurius 6th, alternately, at four hours'
intervals.
4th.-Much improved in both eyes.
Continue the Mercurius.
5th.-Rapid amendment; swelling and discharge very much abated.
6th.-Both eyes nearly wide open: he sits up and looks cautiously
at the light. There is a small ulcer on the cornea of the left eye, and
some redness of the conjunctiva. The chest symptoms and fever have
increased since yesterday, and an attack of acute bronchitis has super-
vened.
Take Aconite 6th, every three hours.
7th.-The constitutional symptoms abated: not so much heat and
fever.
Resume Aconite and Mercurius 12th, alternately, every six hours,
11th. From the former to the present date his amendment has been
most satisfactory; his eyes may be said to be well; even the ulcer has
quite healed and disappeared. He is pretty free from the other disease,
having only a loose cough. He has been taking
Belladonna and Mercurius.
CASE III.-E. W~, aged 6 years. A thin, fair, somewhat
delicate girl.
February 24th, 1847.-Her left eye has been inflamed three days,
and is now intensely red. She cannot bear the least light, and there is
a copious flow of tears whenever she attempts to lift the lid. She has a
good deal of pain in the forehead, and some fever.
Take Aconite, one dose; then Belladonna, every four hours.
25th and 26th.-Better: less pain in the head and eye-but still
much intolerance of light, and considerable injection of the white of the
eye.
Take Mercurius, three times a day.
27th. Though she still wears a shade, and likes to avoid the light,
INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.
171
the eye is as clear as the other, and perfectly free from all appearance of
inflammation.
Take two doses of Sulphur 12th, to-morrow.
March 1st. She incautiously exposed herself yesterday to the cold
air, and to-day is suffering from a slight return of the inflammation.
There is also a smaller ulcer at the edge of the cornea.
Resume Mercurius, three times a day.
4th. The inflammation has entirely subsided: the ulcer has healed,
and the eye is perfectly well.
CASE IV.-I. W-, aged 49 years. Has had repeated at-
tacks of ophthalmia for many years past, and has nearly lost.
the sight of both eyes. One of them is opaque and useless;
the other, though terribly diseased, is still not so bad; and
together they afford just sufficient light to enable him to find
his way. These attacks generally return about twice a year;
he has been under my care for them several times before, and
has always suffered much and long, as well from the remedies,
as from the disease. He has hitherto obtained relief only
after the repeated application of leeches, blisters, lotions, &c.,
and even then the amendment was so tardy, that it was diffi-
cult to say, whether it was due to time, or treatment.
June 4th, 1847.—The left eye is now the offending member. The
whole of the conjunctiva is highly inflamed; the vessels of the cornea
are injected with red blood, and the whole front of the eye has such a
murky appearance, that one can hardly suppose even its partial resto-
ration possible. He cannot bear the admission of the least light; there
is a copious discharge of tears; he has intolerable pain in the temple
and forehead.
Take Aconite 2d directly, and follow it by Belladonna, every four
hours.
5th.—He is already greatly relieved; there is not nearly so much
pain, and the redness of the eye is considerably diminished.
Continue the medicine.
7th.-He is still mending, and has Mercurius 3d, to be taken three
times a day.
172
INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.
9th. His amendment is rapid: he suffers but little, and can open
the eye slightly, without inconvenience.
Take Sulphur 12th, twice a day.
From this time to the 28th, he had Mercurius, Sulphur, and Calcarea;
and at the latter date, was better than he had been for a considerable
time previous.
He had another attack, about ten months later, and found equally
speedy relief from the same kind of treatment.
CASE V.-C. W-, aged 38 years. Has been ill four days;
is liable to inflammation of the eyes, and has had much
trouble in getting them well, being generally under the ne-
cessity, among a variety of other remedies, of applying a good
many leeches.
March 29th, 1847.-The present attack is confined to the left eye,
which is very red, painful, and intolerant of light, and discharges a
large quantity of water. There is also an ulcer just on the edge of the
!
cornea.
Take Aconite 3d, directly; and follow it by Belladonna 3d, every four
hours.
April 1st.-Considerably better: the eye and forehead not so hot,
and the redness has greatly subsided.
Take Mercurius, three times a day.
3d.—Wonderful amendment. The ulcer has quite healed. There is
no inflammation of the cornea, and but very slight of the conjunctiva.
He can bear light and is able to attend to business.
Continue the medicine.
5th.-"About right," to use his own words: there remains only the
smallest spot of redness just at the outer edge of the cornea; which how-
ever causes little or no inconvenience.
Take Hepar Sulph. 12th, twice a day. Cured.
LYING-IN FEVER.
Ir cannot be denied, that much of the suffering which
women undergo after their accouchement is due to mismanage-
ment. The principal errors appear to consist in regarding
the whole process in the light of an illness; and in the unne-
cessary employment of powerful medicines. It is the usual
custom, for ten days or a fortnight after delivery, to adminis-
ter opiates, salines, and aperients: the first, to mitigate after-
pains; the second, to allay the fever induced by the opium;
and the last, to obviate the constipation arising from the same
cause. Rendered naturally more susceptible than at other
times, to the exciting causes of disease, it is easy to under-
stand how, by such a process, the female frame may be stimu-
lated to the development of those febrile and inflammatory
attacks which are peculiar to the period.*
Taking a different, and, we conceive, a more rational view
of the subject, and regarding parturition, and the changes
which flow from it, as so many processes, for the safe and
healthy performance of which nature almost invariably makes
ample provision, the plea for the administration of medicines
*
Equally unjustifiable is the cruel practice of dosing infants with
castor oil the moment they are born. Here, as with the young of other
creatures, nature is equal to all her duties. The same power that sets
the lungs in action so instantaneously, will not fail in establishing at
the proper time, the function of the bowels. Nature, in providing a
supply of milk for the child, points out to us that the mildest and
blandest fluids only are suited to its delicate organization. In causing
a dose of irritating medicine to be the first thing to enter the system,
we grossly violate this indication.
174
LYING-IN FEVER.
vanishes: where there is no disease, remedies are unnecessary.
A practical observance of this principle cannot fail to be at-
tended with the happiest results. Unimpeded in her opera-
tions by meddlesome interference, nature is always adequate
to effect the contraction of the womb, the secretion of the
milk, and the action of the bowels, in the manner best calcu-
lated to secure the safety and comfort of the patient.
There are, however, certain diseases-often beyond our con-
trol in their origin-which, in spite of all our care, will occa-
sionally attack women after their confinement. The most
frequent and formidable of these are, puerperal or lying-in
fever, and inflammation of the breasts.
The former, though termed a fever, is known to be essen-
tially an inflammatory disorder, affecting together, or se-
parately, the womb and its appendages, and the bowels. It is
distinguished by exquisite pain and tenderness in the lower
part of the abdomen, and by general constitutional disturb-
ance. It appears to derive some especial modification from
the peculiar condition of the patient at the time, since it has
always proved so much more extensively and rapidly fatal,
than attacks of inflammation occurring in women under other
circumstances. This fatality, added to the interesting situ-
ation of the patient, has always caused it to be regarded with
feelings of deep apprehension-and most naturally so, for at
no other period, surely, do disease and death appear so un-
timely, as when they visit woman in this her hour of greatest
joy; when a new tie is added to the cords that bind her to
life; and, in the birth of her offspring, she herself, seems to
commence a new existence.
Proportionate to this interest have been the exertions of
medical men, to discover means of encountering the disease
successfully. Their endeavours have hitherto been attended
with very discouraging results: its treatment stills forms one
of the opprobia of medicine. The following resumé of the
different modes of treatment adopted by different parties,
proves that there is not a single remedy on which even
LYING-IN FEVER.
175
those who advocate their employment, can depend with con-
fidence.
Dr. Marshall Hall says, "I would observe in the first
place, that nothing can be trusted to to save the patient, but
the most ample bloodletting, and that nothing should preclude
the use of this remedy but the actual existence of the state of
sinking.'
""
Dr. Ferguson remarks, "The abdominal pain that occurs
in puerperal fever is accompanied by two very different
states of the constitution; one in which little or no depletion
is borne, another in which relief is obtained only by very large
evacuations of blood. While I admit this, I am equally certain,
that large bleeding has not been borne in this country, generally
speaking, during the last twelve years."
Dr. Blundell says, "Emetics have been highly spoken of.
For myself, I have no confidence in curing the disease with
this remedy. The oil of turpentine has been highly recom-
mended by Dr. Brenan and others. I have tried it in four
cases, but which by no means verify the high encomiums bestowed
upon it. Mercurial preparations have also been recommended.
It is said, if you could get the mouth sore, the patient would
be safe. I am sorry to say that a patient to whom I gave
this remedy died in the usual manner, although the system was
brought under its influence. Digitalis has been recommended :
I have tried it without any good effect. Ice has also been recom-
mended: I have tried it, but without success.'
be
Dr. Churchill says,
"After full depletion the next most
powerful remedy is mercury in large doses (ten grains every
three or four hours) until the mouth is affected, unless purg-
ing be induced. To prevent this, it is usual to combine it
with opium. When the calomel acts on the bowels it
may
omitted and the opium alone continued; and I have seen
as much benefit from it alone as from the calomel. Tartar
emetic was recommended by Hulme, and used by several
since his time, with apparent benefit. The state of the stomach
in many cases, however, will prevent its exhibition. Purga-
176
LYING-IN FEVER.
tives have been warmly recommended by some writers, and as
strongly reprobated by others." "My own experience (says
Dr. Ferguson) with regard to aperients is, that whenever they
create tormina (griping) there is the greatest risk of an attack
of metro-peritonitis (lying-in fever) succeeding."
These contradictions might be extended almost to a volume.
The result of such uncertainty is natural and unavoidable.
Dr. Ferguson states, "If we take the results of treatment
adopted in various powerful epidemics by various practi-
tioners, we shall find that on a large scale one in every
three will die, with all the resources which medicine at present
affords."
Admitting this average, as applied to the disease as it ordi--
narily appears, to be somewhat overdrawn, the melancholy
fact still remains indisputable, that under the best manage-
ment Allopathy can apply, it is less amenable to, and tole-
rant of, the usual remedies, and consequently more fatal, than
almost any other inflammatory disorder of adult patients.
There can be few medical men of much experience in mid-
wifery, who have not, at some period or other, received a
check in their career of success, by the loss of several patients
in quick succession from this complaint. To assert that these
disheartening events will never happen in Homoeopathic prac-
tice, would be unwarrantably presumptious, but in affirming
that where they now occur fifty times, when Homoeopathy
shall have become general they will not occur once, I am
simply uttering a prediction, founded upon, and sanctioned by,
daily experience.
The following cases in support of this assertion are selected
from many others, principally on account of their brevity and
the simplicity of the treatment.
LYING-IN FEVER.
177
CASE I.-Mrs. A—, aged 21 years.
December 8th, 1847.-Was confined with her second child five days
ago. In the evening of the third day she was seized with rigors, and
pain in the lower part of the abdomen. Yesterday morning her then
medical attendant thought it necessary to bleed her, but faintness
speedily supervening, only a small quantity of blood was obtained. He
also prescribed pills, a mixture, and a sleeping draught at bedtime.
This morning (the patient being no better, but the reverse), ten leeches
were ordered to be applied to the abdomen, and fourteen more this
afternoon.
Called to visit her for the first time at six o'clock this evening, I find
her in the following condition: she is lying in bed on her back with her
knees drawn up; she has, at the present moment, hot fomentations on
the stomach, and is besides smothered in flannels, shawls, and bed-
clothes. She complains of incessant thirst, to quench which she is
allowed only warm liquids, which are instantly vomited, and her medi-
cine shares the same fate. Her mouth is clammy; tongue brown and
dry; pulse, small, hard, and 130 in the minute; skin very hot; breath-
ing short and quick; head confused. Placing my hand on the lower
part of the abdomen, and making gentle pressure, she flinches and cries
out with pain; the least movement, or cough, also greatly aggravates
her suffering. The abdomen is much distended; the lochia have ceased ;
the bowels have been relieved to-day.
The fomenting flannels and other extra wraps are removed, and only
a comfortable amount of clothing retained; the curtains are thrown
back, and a free circulation of air admitted.
She is to drink cold toast-water, and barley-water, and take
Aconite 3d, every hour, till amendment manifests itself, then every two
hours.
9th.-Noon. Without witnessing it, one could hardly credit the
change that has come over this patient since yesterday evening. Her
condition, as just described, was then most alarming: to-day there is
hardly a trace of disease.
After the second dose of medicine she fell into a calm, refreshing sleep,
which continued some hours. She has now but very little pain in the
abdomen, even on pressure. She moves freely from side to side, and
from one part of the bed to another; there has been no return of vomit-
8 $
178
LYING-IN FEVER.
ing; her thirst is quite allayed, the mouth is cool and comfortable, and
the tongue moist: the skin is of a natural temperature, and the pulse
reduced to 100. Her countenance, yesterday pinched and contracted
and expressive of distress and anxiety, is now expanded, cheerful, and
smiling.
Continue the medicine at longer intervals.
10th.-Passed an excellent night, and to-day, with the exception of a
little weakness, feels quite well.
Omit the medicine, and take gentle nourishment. Cured.
CASE II. Mrs. F-, a tall, dark young woman, of sanguine
temperament, aged 21 years.
July 1st, 1847.-Was delivered of a five months' child at four o'clock
yesterday morning. There was adherent placenta, which required
manual assistance for its removal. She was doing as well as usual
till noon to-day, when there was a severe shivering fit. This has been
succeeded by sharp pain in the region of the womb, and terrible consti-
tutional excitement. There is a rapid, tumultuous pulse (140 in a
minute). Her skin is burning hot; she is intensely thirsty; has rack-
ing headache and intolerance of light and noise. Her breathing is quick
and her countenance flushed. The abdomen is exceedingly sensitive to
the touch, particularly over the right side of the womb. There is
a dark lochial discharge. She has had another shivering fit this
evening.
Take Aconite 3d, and Belladonna 3d, alternately, every hour.
2d.—After the fourth dose of medicine all the symptoms abated, and
the amendment having been progressive ever since, she is now wonder-
fully better. Complete calmness of system has succeeded to the pre-
vious alarming excitement. There is but little tenderness in the ab-
domen; scarcely any headache; the breathing is quiet; the skin cool;
pulse 105, soft and regular; she is composed and placid, and speaks
cheerfully.
Continue the medicine at longer intervals.
3d.-Doing remarkably well. She sits up in bed without incon-
venience; has no pain in the abdomen; no headache; no thirst;
pulse natural. There is some stiffness about the back of the neck and
shoulders. This was removed by a dose of Bryonia. Cured.
LYING-IN FEVER.
179
CASE III.—Mrs. R-, aged 30 years, dark complexion,
irritable, sanguine temperament.
May 4th, 1847.—Was confined three days ago, with her second child.
She had an excellent time, but ever since has had occasional chills
creeping over her. This morning her feet and legs became cold, and,
nearly at the same time, severe and cutting pains attacked her in the
lower part of the abdomen. This point is now exquisitely tender to
the least touch; and coughing, attempting to move in bed, or to
breathe deeply, increases the pain to an intolerable degree. She lies
upon her back perfectly quiescent, looks dull and depressed, and heavy
about the eyes, though naturally of a remarkably vivacious disposition.
Her pulse is greatly accelerated; she is thirsty; complains of headache ;
milk is secreted, but there is but very little lochial discharge. The
bowels have acted this morning without medicine.
Take Aconite 3d, every two hours.
5th. The pain is nearly gone. There remains some tenderness on
pressure just in the region of the womb; but the original pain has
almost entirely subsided; as have also the constitutional symptoms,
there being now no fever, thirst, or headache. The pulse is soft and
natural in frequency; she sits up in bed and nurses her child, and is in
her usual spirits.
Continue the medicine at longer intervals.
6th.-Quite free from pain.
Omit medicine.
7th.-Disturbed by her child during the night, and irritated this
morning by her nurse, she is now not so well: there is some return of
pain; and the other symptoms have recurred nearly in their original
intensity.
Take one dose of Aconite, then Chamomilla 3d, every two hours.
In the evening she is nearly free from pain, and in other respects alto-
gether much relived.
Continue the medicine every four hours.
9th.-Perfectly well since yesterday morning; should there be any
return of the disease she is to resume the use of the medicine: this
necessity did not occur.
180
LYING-IN FEVER.
CASE IV.- Mrs. G-, aged 28, always a weakly, ailing
person.
December 11th, 1847.-Four days ago, after an excellent time, was
delivered of her third child, and went on favorably till last evening,
when she had a shivering fit. She suffered much with pain in the lower
part of the abdomen during the night, and on visiting her to-day at
noon, she presents all the symptoms of a severe attack of puerperal
fever, viz., exquisite tenderness in the abdomen on pressure, movement,
coughing, or deep inspiration; high fever, indicated by rapid pulse
(130 in the minute), dry, hot skin, much thirst, and severe headache.
Aconite 3d, every half-hour.
Ten o'clock at night.-Already much relieved: the pain has greatly
subsided, and instead of being felt constantly, as previously, she now
only experiences it on coughing, or pressing the bowels; the skin is
cool; thirst much abated; pulse still quick, but softer.
Continue the medicine every hour.
12th. Very considerable amendment: still she is not out of danger;
the pulse is too quick, and there is much tenderness of abdomen re-
maining. The bowels have been violently relaxed several times in the
night, and she now feels some sickness.
To take Chamomilla 3d, every two hours.
Ten o'clock at night.-No relaxation in other respects much the
same, except that the tenderness is more diffused.
Take Belladonna 3d, every four hours.
13th. She is all but free from pain: there is very little tenderness
even on pressure. Her pulse is nearly natural; skin cool; no thirst,
nor headache. She can move and turn in bed with ease.
Continue the medicines at longer intervals.
She had subsequently Mercurius, Nux Vomica, and Sulphur; her
amendment was rapid and uninterrupted, and she was out of her bed-
room on the tenth day from her confinement.
Case V.-Mrs. K-—, aged 21 years. A very delicate young
woman.
December 19th, 1846. - Was safely delivered at one o'clock this
LYING-IN FEVER.
181
morning, after a favorable time, and was left as comfortable as could be
desired.
Five o'clock in the evening.-She had a severe shivering fit an hour
ago, and took some brandy and water to dispel it. It has now passed
off, and left general excitement of system, with considerable tenderness
and disturbance of the abdomen, and pains recurring at intervals; the
pulse is rather quick, there is thirst, and warm skin.
Take Chamomilla 6th, every two hours.
Six hours later.-A clot has passed; the bowels have acted, and
the abdomen feels altogether relieved. But the general symptoms
have become much aggravated; the pulse is bounding, and 130 in
the minute; breathing rapid and oppressed; skin burning hot; intense
thirst.
Take Aconite 6th, every hour.
20th.-Continued the medicine till four o'clock in the morning, when,
the bowels becoming rather violently relaxed, it was discontinued. The
lower part of the abdomen, just over the womb, is now exceedingly
tender—and will not admit of the slightest touch or movement of the
body. The pulse still rapid and full, and she is very thirsty. There
is a scanty, offensive discharge.
Resume the Aconite, in alternation with Belladonna.
21st.-Pulse 95, soft, and more equable; very little thirst; skin cool
and perspiring; countenance, hitherto anxious and shrunken, is now
expanded and placid. The milk begins to be secreted, and the discharge
is more free and less offensive.
22d.-Much the same. Still some pain on deep pressure over the
left side of the womb. She now perspires profusely at times, and feels
exceedingly weak.
Take Mercurius, ever six hours.
23d.-Convalescent. Debilitated. Takes light nourishment, and
Cinchona 3d, twice a day. Cured.
This is a specimen of a class of cases-unfortunately but too
numerous-which, more than any other, embarrass and baffle
the Allopathic practitioner. Violent in their onset, and at-
tended from the first with symptoms of great debility, they
entirely preclude the loss of blood. In the absence of other
means capable of arresting the disease, it runs its destructive
182
LYING-IN FEVER.
course unchecked, and in a few hours hurries the unhappy
patient out of the world.
Besides the one above related, I have treated several other
cases of the same character Homoeopathically, and have had
the satisfaction to see them all recover.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BREAST.
MORE protracted and painful, though fortunately less dan-
gerous, than the last-named disease, inflammation of the breast
is one of the most harassing attendants upon a lying-in.
Like puerperal fever, it too commonly owes its origin to inju-
dicious interference; consisting, in this instance, in the
outward use of stimulating applications, and in the internal
administration of strong medicines. Both of these-the
former by producing local irritation, the latter, general
disturbance-tend to interrupt the natural and healthy secre-
tion of milk, and so lay the foundation of subsequent disease.
Cases will, however, present themselves, in which, from
unavoidable causes, the breast cannot be relieved of its
accumulated milk, and the consequent development of in-
flammation becomes inevitable. Medical assistance is then
necessary, in order to check the inflammation, and prevent
the formation of abscess. The frequent occurrence of "bad
breasts" too plainly attest the inadequacy of leeches, poul-
tices, and purgatives, to effect that object. Not so with
Homœopathy; employed early in the disease, its remedies
are most effective. Unless neglected, and far advanced, I
have never yet met with a case, which Aconite, Belladonna,
and Bryonia failed to arrest; and in those cases in which the
formation of matter could not be averted, the same
remedies have rendered that process comparatively painless,
by allaying the general fever, and moderating the local
inflammation.
184
INFLAMMATION OF THE BREAST.
The following cases are illustrative of both these points.
CASE I.-Mrs. A-, aged 21 years. Delicate, fair complexion,
light hair; confined a fortnight, with her first child, and
troubled ever since with tender nipples.
November 13th, 1848.—Taken in the night with shivering, and severe
pain in the right breast. Visiting her at three o'clock in the afternoon,
I find her in bed, labouring under intense bodily excitement, in addition
to the local disease. Her pulse is exceedingly rapid; she has incessant
thirst; her skin is hot and dry; her head aches and throbs violently,
causing her to bury it in the pillow, and keep the eyes closed. Her
breathing is hurried, sobbing, and irregular, and she has aching pains in
every limb; whilst the affected breast is much swollen and distended,
and very painful and tender to the touch, but particularly so on the
outward side, where there is considerable hardness of the gland, and a
deep-red blush on the skin.
Take Aconite 3d, and Belladonna 3d, alternately, two hours apart.
14th. Amazingly relieved. The constitutional excitement has entirely
subsided. She is sitting up in bed, composed and cheerful; pulse calm;
skin cool; no thirst. There is but little tenderness in the breast; the
redness has disappeared; and some hardness constitutes the only remains
of this severe attack.
Take Bryonia 12th, three times a day.
15th.-Perfectly well.
CASE II. Mrs. S-, aged 30 years. Fair, delicate, light
hair. Has been confined three weeks, and troubled with
excoriated nipples, for which she has taken Chamomilla,
&c.
September 17th, 1848.-The left breast became irritable and painful
three days ago. Yesterday these symptoms increased considerably, and
to-day she is in bed; being bodily ill with fever, heat, thirst, headache,
and loss of appetite. The breast is much enlarged, painful, throbbing,
and burning; red and inflamed on the skin, and hard in the substance of
the organ, towards the chest bone.
Take Aconite 6th, every three hours.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BREAST.
185
1
18th. The febrile symptoms have vanished: the breast is not nearly
so painful, nor large; the heat and redness have abated; and the hard-
ness is not so distinct. She still complains of headache.
Take Belladonna 6th, every six hours.
19th.—Still better: health much improved; no redness of the breast.
Some hardness and fulness.
A few doses of Bryonia.
20th.-Dressed, down stairs, and eating a good dinner.
Attendance discontinued.
CASE III.—Mrs. B—, aged about 36 years. A large, tall,
rather plethoric woman.
She has had several children before, but from a physical im-
perfection, has been unable to suckle any of them. The con-
sequence has been, that on each occasion she has experienced
much difficulty in repressing and dispelling the milk, which
has been secreted in great abundance. Some years ago she
came under my care for a bad breast, and it was only by the
persevering and unsparing employment of leeches, cold lotions,
purgatives, and abstinence, that I succeeded in preventing
suppuration.
June, 1848.—On the present occasion, thanks to Homœopathy, all
this difficulty has been avoided. The breasts filled, as usual, on the third
day, and began to wear a somewhat threatening appearance; but by the
aid, solely, of Aconite and Bryonia, the general fever, and local inflam-
mation were easily kept under; and on the sixth day she was as well as
any other woman could be, in a similar situation. After the first few
hours of uncomfortable fulness of the breasts had passed, she suffered
scarcely the slightest inconvenience.
CASE IV.-Mrs. C—, aged 26 years. Fair and delicate;
lively disposition. Her first confinement took place a
fortnight ago. The right nipple is very sore, though the
child has not taken it so freely as the other.
October 19th, 1848.-The breast has been full and hard the last four
days. The nurse injudiciously applied oil and brandy "to disperse the
186
INFLAMMATION OF THE BREAST.
milk,” but instead of that effect, it produced heat and erysipelatous red-
ness of the skin. The whole gland is inflamed, tumefied, and painful;
and there is a hard lump, about the size of a large egg, on its outer side.
The patient is confined to bed, with fever, thirst, and headache.
Take Aconite 3d, three doses; then Belladonna, three doses.
20th.—Redness nearly all disappeared. The breast is not so tender,
it does not throb so much, but the hardness still continues. Better in
health; no fever or thirst.
21st. Well in health; takes light food; the breast causes but little
inconvenience, yet the lump remains; and there are appearances which
lead me to suspect a rather deep-seated abscess.
This suspicion proved to be correct. The matter gradually made its
way towards the surface, and was discharged at the proper period. The
inflammation was kept under by appropriate remedies; the abscess was
small, and caused but little pain or inconvenience; and at the end of a
few days she was about as if nothing had happened.
CASE V.—Mrs. M. A. M—, aged 29 years. A large, strong
woman.
January 20th, 1847.-Was delivered of her second child seven weeks
ago. Three weeks since she had a shivering fit, which ushered in an
attack of inflammation of the right breast; this yielded speedily to a few
doses of Aconite. She remained well till the 11th instant (nine days ago),
when she again had chills, followed by pain and hardness of the left
breast. She endeavoured to subdue it by fomentations and aperient
medicines. Failing in this, and the pain, enlargement, and induration
continuing to increase, she seeks my advice this morning. She com-
plains of a throbbing, darting pain in the diseased organ, which is hot
and inflamed on the surface, and in the centre the gland is hard, round,
and about the size of a large orange; evidently in that condition which
immediately precedes suppuration. She is feverish and thirsty, and has
lost her appetite.
Take Aconite 3d, directly; then Bryonia 6th, every six hours,
and apply bread poultices.
21st.-There is much less of the shooting pain in the breast; but the
hardness remains the same. She has lost the fever and thirst, and feels
altogether much more comfortable.
Take Mercurius 12th, and Bryonia 12th, alternately, twelve hours
apart.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BREAST.
187
29th. In the interval since the last date has felt little or no pain;
the breast is larger, has become adematous, and matter has evidently
formed. She has had
Mercurius and Hepar Sulph.
31st. The matter rapidly approaching the surface. In making an
incision, a considerable quantity of healthy pus is discharged.
February 1st. The breast discharging slightly. Feels quite well.
Medical attendance discontinued.
८८
CONVULSIONS.
CONVULSIONS" is one of that mysterious order of diseases
called the "spasmi," or spasms.
In the same category is in-
cluded epilepsy, hysteria, St. Vitus's dance, tetanus or locked-
jaw, and hydrophobia, as well as some others which are not so
distinctly characterised.
The true spasmodic or convulsive diseases are exceedingly
frightful to behold, and never fail to excite the terror of the
non-professional spectator. Nothing, for instance, can be
more alarming to witness than an epileptic fit in an adult, or
an attack of convulsions in a child. In both cases the whole
body is thrown into the most violent contortions. Every limb
and muscle is seized with spasmodic contractions or jerkings;
the head and face become turgid and bloated: the eyes averted
and fixed; the breathing interrupted and irregular; and the
lips covered with foaming froth. The wonder is, not only
how the patient can survive such a convulsion of the system,
but how it happens that in that convulsion he should sustain
so little injury. Deadly as the contest appears to be, nature,
especially in adults, generally triumphs; the convulsion, ex-
hausted by its own efforts, subsides; the patient falls into a
sound sleep, and awakes unconscious of the fearful struggle in
which he has been engaged. These diseases are scarcely less.
mysterious than appalling. How rarely can we assign any-
thing like a definite cause for an attack of epilepsy, hysteria,
or convulsions! A person to all appearance in the enjoyment
of perfect health one moment, shall the next be presenting all
the horrors of one of these attacks. And even when we are
able to arrive at the immediate exciting cause, the manner in
which it operates upon the system is inscrutable. There is
seemingly such a mixture of the mental and the physical in
CONVULSIONS.
189
many of these cases, that, until we are permitted to penetrate
deeper than we have hitherto done, into the arcana of nature,
and to scan more closely her secret springs of action,
there appears to be no probability of the mystery being re-
moved.
Their causes being thus for the most part inexplicable, and
their nature hypothetical, the treatment of these diseases is
as uncertain and diversified as the notions which medical men
may chance to entertain on those points. This being the case,
it is deeply to be regretted that the abstraction of blood
should be so frequently, and inconsiderately adopted. I have
already had many occasions to point out, not only how much
more safely and speedily diseases may be cured without that
operation, but have also shown its really dangerous tendency
in those cases in which it is employed. The convulsions of
children adds one more to the number.
In Dr. Locock's paper on this disorder, in the "Cyclopædia
of Practical Medicine," we find the following passage: "When,
however, a plethoric, or too energetic condition of the vessels
of the brain obtains, it is undoubtedly desirable to relieve the
head by bloodletting. For this purpose, opening the jugular
vein is the readiest, and perhaps the most effectual method;
or, should it be preferred, cupping, or the application of
leeches on the temples, or behind the ears, may be had re-
course to. The quantity of blood drawn must depend on the
strength of the child, and the violence of the symptoms; and
although on the whole, under such circumstances, children of
a tender age bear the loss of a larger quantity of blood than
would be supposed, very safely, yet care must be taken, lest
the child be brought into that state of exhaustion in which
convulsions are very apt to occur, from an exactly opposite cere-
bral condition. The writer of this article (Dr. Locock) saw a
plethoric child of a year old, cupped to fainting, during
a severe convulsive attack, and no sooner had the faintness
subsided, and the child was left bleached, with a depressed
fontanelle, than a second and still more violent convulsion
190
CONVULSIONS.
took place, from which it was with extreme difficulty re-
covered."
In this paragraph we have an instance of the life of a child
being as much jeopardised by the remedy as by the disease.
One would think that the risks engendered by the latter were
sufficient, without adding to them the hazards originating in
unscientific treatment.
Other means commonly adopted, are baths; ice and cold
lotions to the head; mustard poultices to different parts of the
body; blisters, calomel, purgatives, &c.
The Homœopathic treatment will be best seen in the follow-
ing cases.
CASE I.—E. B—, a female child, aged 23 years. Was brought
from the country a month ago in perfect health. Since then
she has fallen off in strength, but betrayed no distinct
sign of illness till yesterday, when she became hot and
feverish.
June 14th, 1847.-Two hours and a half ago she fell into a strong
convulsive fit, which continues at this present moment in all its violence.
The whole body is affected, but one side chiefly: her head is thrown
forcibly backwards, the face being fixed in an oblique position towards
one side; the limbs are rigid, the hands being firmly clenched, and the
toes drawn towards the heels; every part of the frame is strongly con-
vulsed, and thrown into violent jerks, which affect principally the head,
neck, arm, and leg of one side, together with the muscles of the face and
mouth, from which latter there is a constant discharge of foam; the
eyelids are forced wide open, the eyes are averted and staring, and the
pupils irregularly dilated; the whole countenance is frightfully distorted,
bloated, congested, and livid, as though she was undergoing strangulation.
Her breathing is most irregular, and spasmodic, at times entirely sus-
pended, until another spasmodic expiration ensues. Her pulse beats
tumultuously (200 or more in a minute), the skin is burning hot,
especially on the head. It is scarcely necessary to state that there is
complete insensibility. She has been in a warm bath some time, without
any mitigation of the symptoms. Having my pocket-case of medicines
with me, I immediately-forcing the clenched teeth a little asunder for
CONVULSIONS.
191
the purpose-give a dose of Belladonna, and sit down to watch the effect.
In fifteen minutes its beneficial action is strikingly evident; the general
rigidity of the body begins to subside; the arms and legs, previously as
stiff as a piece of wood, gradually relax, and become perfectly moveable;
the eyelids from time to time droop as if falling asleep; the breathing
becomes more calm and regular; the lips resume their natural colour;
the head and skin remarkably cooler. I repeat the dose, and at the end
of another half hour have the satisfaction of seeing the little creature
relieved from the grasp of her fearful enemy. Partial consciousness
returns: she drinks a little milk and water, grasps my finger when placed
in her hand, and in short is coming quite to herself. I leave another
dose of Belladonna, to be administered in a few hours.
15th. She is brought to me, comparatively, though not quite, well.
There is a little contraction and rigidity in one wrist; some restlessness;
she starts at any sudden noise; is a little hot and thirsty.
Take Aconite 12th, every six hours, alternately with Chamomilla.
She was brought once more, had a repetition of the medicine, and was
thoroughly restored.
Had I treated this case according to the old system, I should
instantly have opened a vein in the neck, and here I must
have stopped-it is true I might have applied ice to the head,
and mustard poultices to the feet and legs, but as to internal
remedies, the door was shut against their admission: the at-
tempt to force medicine down the child's throat, would, in all
probability, have caused instant death. Not so with Homoeo-
pathy it is always possible to get the dose, if not on
the tongue, at least within the lips, and that is sufficient-
it instantly mixes with the saliva, and becomes absorbed into
the system.
:
CASE II.—E. H—, a fine boy; 18 months old.
June 16th, 1847.-He is cutting his double teeth, and has been a
little disordered in his bowels the last few days. About twenty minutes
ago he became violently convulsed, in which state he still remains; every
part of the body, arms, legs, and back, are thrown into rapid and violent
192
CONVULSIONS.
jerks; the head is twisted on one side; every muscle of the face,
especially those of the mouth, working violently, and causing frightful
distortion of the features; the eyelids are fixed wide open, the eyes
averted, and the pupils widely dilated; the foam rushes backwards and
forwards between his lips, as it is drawn into and expelled from the
mouth by his spasmodic breathing. The veins of neck, face, and fore-
head, are swollen and turgid. His pulse is beating with a throbbing
stroke, and too tumultuously to be counted; the skin is burning hot,
and bathed in a profuse perspiration, probably from his having been just
taken out of a warm bath.
I pass a dose of Chamomilla between the teeth instantly. Ten minutes
after, the limbs relax, the breathing becomes deeper and more regular,
the skin cooler. He now remains in a general tremor through the whole
body, like a child recovering from a fright. I lance the gums, give a dose
of Belladonna, and leave another to be administered in the night.
17th. He slept soundly, and is brought to my house this morning,
perfectly well.
CASE III.-William N-, aged 15 months, was never ill
before.
April 21st, 1847.-Has had five fits within the last sixteen hours; the
last having gone off about an hour since. They are described as coming
on with violent convulsions of the arms and legs, and body generally;
frothing at the mouth, blackness of the face, very irregular breathing,
and rattling of phlegm in the throat, as though he would be strangled.
They last about a quarter of an hour, and leave him drowsy and insensible
in the intervals. He is now lying in that condition, with frowning brows,
flushed face, hot skin, quick pulse. He starts at times, and screams
and becomes suddenly excited, but instantly relapses into his former
condition.
Take Belladonna 12th, directly; and repeat it every two hours.
22d.—He had three more fits of a mitigated kind before eleven o'clock
last night, since when they have not returned. He is drowsy and le-
thargic; but not so feverish, hot, and thirsty, as previously.
Repeat Belladonna 12th, every four hours.
23d. There has been no convulsion; he is in every other respect
greatly relieved he slept well; is cool and comfortable in skin; wakeful
and collected in mind; he watches the other children about the room,
:
CONVULSIONS.
193
and even makes feeble efforts to join in their amusements. There is
occasionally a little starting and restlessness; the bowels have all along
acted regularly.
Continue the medicine at longer intervals.
24th.—On waking from a sleep yesterday afternoon, his mother found
him warmer in skin, and his face covered with a red eruption. To-day
it has made its appearance on the legs and arms, and proves to be
measles. There is but very little febrile action, and all cerebral excite-
ment has vanished. He had a few doses of Pulsatilla. The skin-discase
ran its course favorably, and he recovered rapidly without encountering
any drawback.
CASE IV.-B. S-, aged 18 months; a beautiful boy, but
somewhat pulled down by the irritation of teething.
July 2d, 1847.-He is now cutting his double teeth, for which his
gums were lanced this morning. He was much disordered and purged in
his bowels all yesterday. In the middle of last night, now nine hours ago,
he was seized with a violent fit, having convulsion in every limb; jerking of
the head and face; foaming at the mouth; the eyes wide open; the face
of a ghastly colour; the skin burning hot; breathing irregular, and ac-
companied with a rattling in the throat. This lasted half an hour. He
had another fit at two o'clock in the morning, and again at half-past six,
from which he is now, at nine, just recovering; he is in a perfectly
stupid, insensible state, showing no signs of consciousness when un-
disturbed; but, if touched, he starts, and becomes slightly convulsed for
a moment.
I gave a dose of Chamomilla 3d, immediately, and ordered it to be
repeated in an hour; then to take Belladouna 3d. He revived much,
then slept calmly for some time, but at noon there was a slight return
of the convulsion, which lasted about five minutes. On visiting him
shortly after, I found him greatly improved, indeed quite a different
child from what he was in the morning. He is, however, still suffering
much from purging of the bowels, which is almost incessant, and attended
with pain, griping, crying, and drawing up of the legs, and insatiable
thirst; he grasps at a cup of cold water, and drinks it down with the
utmost avidity.
Take Aconite directly; then Arsenicum 12th, every hour.
9
194
CONVULSIONS.
At four in the afternoon he is reported as being better in the bowels, as
well as in every other respect.
3d.-Dressed, sitting up, looking intelligent, and comparatively lively
and cheerful. No appearance of fits, but the bowels still continue much
disordered, the evacuatious slimy, and at times mixed with blood.
Take Mercurius Solubilis 12th, every four hours.
4th. The bowels rather better, but still relaxed.
Take Arsenicum 12th.
He got subsequently Chamomilla and Sulphur for the diarrhoea, which,
though rather obstinate, yielded entirely to these medicines, and be
recovered without any recurrence of the convulsions.
CASE V.-N. V—, a girl, aged 2 years; delicate, small
of her age, and large headed. Has previously shown a
tendency to convulsions; is liable to relaxation of the
bowels.
August 23d, 1847.-Nine in the evening. She was sick this afternoon
about two hours and a half ago was seized with slight convulsive move-
ments of the arms, and the eyes became fixed; this state of things
gradually increased to a decided convulsion of the whole body, but
affecting the right side most strongly; the mouth is violently and rapidly
jerked backwards to that side; the eyelids are wide open, and the eyes
in constant motion, being principally turned upwards; the pupils are
strongly dilated; the head is very hot; pulse too rapid to be reckoned ;
the breathing quick and irregular, and the breath is, as it were, jerked
out of the chest so forcibly by each convulsive effort, as to cause a
curious short shriek, or barking noise.
I administer Chamomilla 3d, instantly-at the end of twenty minutes
no perceptible amendment. I give Belladonna 3d—in a quarter of an
hour she takes a deep sigh; the convulsion ceases; the limbs relax and
fall; the eyelids droop; the breathing becomes calm; she falls into a
quiet slumber. Slight startings, and twitchings of the limbs return at
intervals. Watching her twenty minutes longer, there is, at the end of
that period, a recurrence of the attack in a very mitigated degree. I
repeat the Belladonna, and the fit again speedily subsides. I order the
medicine to be repeated two or three times in the night, if needful.
23d.—There was scarcely any return of the convulsive movements ;
CONVULSIONS.
195
she slept soundly, and to-day is as it were well; she is laughing, playing,
and chattering, as if nothing had happened.
To take a few more doses of Belladonna.
Had subsequently Chamomilla and Calcarea, to remove stomach dis-
order and constitutional debility.
Such are some of the effects of Homœopathic remedies in
the convulsions of children. I have used them in numerous
other cases besides those here recorded, and in every instance
with such unfailing success, that I should now almost as soon
think of decapitating, as bleeding, a patient under similar
circumstances.
ERYSIPELAS.*
AMONG the diseases of the skin this is one of the most formid-
able. The term erysipelas, applied popularly to almost every irri-
tation of the skin, has, medically, a very limited signification, and
is used to denominate, what Dr. Elliotson calls, " a very intense
affection." It consists in violent inflammation of a circum-
scribed portion of the skin, most commonly that of the head
and face. It is also attended with symptoms of much general
disturbance-high fever, thirst, headache, and delirium. The
diseased part becomes intensely red and swollen; frequently
results in large blisters, or vesicles, which, as the disorder
subsides, dry, peel off, and leave a new skin. This descrip-
tion at once points it out as differing widely from the gentle
red blush, or little itching pimples, with which it is usually
confounded.
The ordinary treatment of this disease is still one of the
"vexed questions" in medicine: there is hardly any other
point of practice which has undergone so many mutations.
There is no doubt that the nature of the complaint is better
understood now than formerly; but this total want of
unanimity in its treatment, proves that that treatment is as
* In the 'Lancet,' of the 6th and 13th of February, and the 10th of
April, 1836, there are some very interesting reports of cases of erysipelas,
treated by the late Mr. Liston, at the North London Hospital, with Aconite
and Belladonna. That eminent surgeon speaks in the highest terms of the
success of this treatment, and concludes his remarks to the students with
these words: "You ought not to reject its doctrines (those of Homœopathy)
without due examination and inquiry." Homœopathy was then too
young and harmless to excite the alarm of the 'Lancet,' and call forth
the torrents of abuse which now, week by week, defile its pages.
ERYSIPELAS.
197
empirical as ever. The writer, some time since, formed one
of a party of five medical men, at the house of a physician,
where, in the course of conversation, the treatment of erysi-
pelas was incidentally mentioned. In less than five minutes
four members of the party had expressed as many different
opinions. One recommended the application of a solution of
zinc-another found nitrate of silver infallible-his neighbour
advocated puncturation of the skin-whilst the fourth extolled
the superiority of long incisions.* These four gentlemen,
though affording a fair specimen of the prevailing diversity of
opinion, by no means represented all the existing modes of
treatment.
In opposition to this diversity, there is no disease in the
treatment of which Homœopathists are more unanimous.
Hahnemann and his followers, in testing the virtues of medi-
cinal substances, have discovered some medicines of surpassing
efficacy in subduing erysipelatous inflammation. Foremost
among these stand Belladonna and Apis; and scarcely in-
ferior to them is the Rhus Toxicodendron. We venture to
affirm that no medical man, however strong his prejudice
against Homœopathy, can witness the effects of these medi-
cines without being struck with admiration at their power in
mitigating the virulence, and arresting the progress of the
disease.
CASE I.-John D-, aged 26 years; very temperate;
naturally of a delicate constitution. He caught a severe
cold about three weeks ago, from sleeping in a damp,
newly-built house, and has not been well since. He had at
first pains in the limbs, especially in the back, for which he
* "Some surgeons make the incision a foot long; but others make
half a dozen incisions, each an inch in length; some doing it all at once;
and others, as Mr. Lawrence waggishly said, 'by instalments.""
(Elliotson's Lectures.')
198
ERYSIPELAS.
was cupped. Continuing to get worse, he took to his bed,
got a dispensary letter, and was attended by one of my col-
leagues. A week ago he came under my care, and was
attended Allopathically till to-day, when failing to make any
impression on his disease, and other symptoms of an alarming
nature supervening, the dispensary letter is relinquished, and
Homœopathic treatment adopted.
May 7th, 1847.-He presents the following deplorable condition: he
is thoroughly prostrated; lies on his back unable to raise himself in bed;
has general pain in all his limbs; is feverish, thirsty, and complains of
severe headache; his pulse is small and faltering, and beating 130 in a
minute;
his tongue is thickly coated, dry, and cracked; he has a harassing
cough; pain under the chest bone, and rapid breathing; his bowels are
relaxed, and he has frequent vomiting. There is general tremor of the
limbs, and at times wandering delirium. In the midst of all this,
erysipelas manifests itself. It first attacked the posterior part of one of
the shoulders, and then spread to the back of the neck and head, creeping
round to the face on both sides, and meeting on the forehead and nose,
where it has risen into a large blister. The parts last named, as well as
the eyelids, are intensely red and swollen, so that the eyes are entirely
closed, and the whole face terribly deformed. There is also a large
patch of erysipelatous inflammation on the lower part of the back, reach-
ing across from hip to hip, and extending downwards on to the thighs;
it is here of a bright red colour, and its margins are elevated, and exactly
defined. At one o'clock in the forenoon he takes the first dose of
Homœopathic medicine-Rhus Toxicodendron 3d; to repeat it every
two hours.
Eight o'clock in the evening.There is already a more favorable state
of things his pulse from 130 has sunk to 110, and is more firm and
steady; skin soft and warm; tongue more moist, especially at the edges;
he is more collected in his ideas, and speaks in a firmer tone. Though
coughing a good deal, and complaining of pain in his chest, he breathes
more regularly, and does not appear to be so much oppressed with
phlegm.
Continue the medicine.
8th. Considerable further improvement in the general aspect of the
case. There is altogether more power; he is less delirious, though still
wandering and incoherent at times; there has been no vomiting since
ERYSIPELAS.
199
yesterday evening, and the bowels are quiet; pulse only 100; tongue
moist; breathing easy; expectoration copious and free; he had some
refreshing sleep in the night. The erysipelas covers the remainder of
the face, but is much less vivid, swollen, and painful; that on the lower
part of the body is also progressing favorably.
Continue the medicine.
9th.-Steady improvement: the erysipelas on the face has nearly
subsided; he can open the eyes partially; there is gradual abatement of
all the other symptoms; he rests better, and takes light nourishment
with avidity.
Continue the medicine.
10th. The inflammation has entirely disappeared from the face, and
the skin is beginning to peel off. There is a large patch of it on each
elbow since yesterday, and it still continues fresh and vivid on the back.
In other respects he is doing remarkably well.
Take Belladonna 3d, four doses.
12th.—The skin-disease has disappeared from the joints and elsewhere,
but he complains of having felt a good deal of pain and oppression in the
chest since last night: he coughs more, and breathes quickly.
Take Phosphorus 12th, every six hours.
13th.-Relieved in the chest. He now lies on his side, comfortably
doubled up; whereas before he has lain on his back, with his knees up,
and his body sunk low down in the bed, as persons generally do in low
fevers, and other diseases which exhaust the nervous power.
15th. Mending rapidly. A large abscess, which formed suddenly at
the bottom of the back, is opened.
Take Cinchona 3d, three times a day.
From this date up to the 27th, when medical attendance was dis-
continued, his amendment was uninterrupted.
CASE II.—Mrs. B—, aged 40 years. A nurse.
June 9th, 1847.-Has been a good deal exposed of late to the weather,
and works hard to support a sick husband. Has suffered from pain in
the face for the last fortnight. During the last thirty-six hours the
whole left side of the face has become so much swollen as to puzzle me
(though well known to me) in tracing her identity. The skin is of a
deep red colour, and the swelling has entirely closed the left eye, and
rendered the upper lid treble its natural thickness. The gum of the
upper jaw is also swollen and inflamed, and there is a hardness just in
200
ERYSIPELAS.
that spot, threatening the formation of an abscess. The saliva flows
freely from the mouth. The constitutional symptoms run high: her
pulse is rapid; skin hot; tongue coated and dry; she is thirsty; com-
plains of severe headache; and gets no sleep.
Take Aconite 6th, every four hours.
20th.-Erysipelas spreading over the other side of the face, closing
both eyes; and extending also backwards, and involving the ears and
subjacent parts of the neck. Constitutionally, she is considerably re-
lieved; having not so much thirst, nor heat of skin; the pulse being
softer, and less rapid; and the tongue not so dry. The whole head and
face now appears nearly twice its natural size, and feels so heavy that
she has not power to lift it from the pillow. There is a little discharge
issuing from under the upper lip, as though an abscess had burst.
Take Belladonna 3d, every three hours.
21st.—The inflammation and swelling have subsided in a remarkable
degree. She can open her eyes freely, and the face is nearly restored to
its usual size. The disease is now confined to a faint blush on the sides
of the neck, and under the chin, and a considerable tumefaction of
the ears.
Pulsatilla 12th, every four hours.
23d.—Still a little tenderness on the back part of the head. All the
parts previously affected are quite well, with the exception of the gums,
which remain tender and swollen. It scarcely need be said that the
constitutional symptoms have improved in equal proportion.
Take Mercurius 6th, three times a day.
26th. She calls to report herself perfectly well. All traces of the
disease have disappeared, and she complains only of a little debility.
Take a few doses of Hepar Sulphuris.
CASE III.-H. D-, aged 18 years.
August 27th, 1848.-Was taken ill five days ago, from home, with
symptoms of fever. She had shivers, heat, headache, thirst, pains in her
limbs, &c. She was attended by a medical gentleman, who prescribed
for her several times, but continuing to get worse, she was brought
home the day before yesterday. Twenty-four hours since, erysipelas
first made its appearance on the left cheek, which part it now completely
covers, and has passed over the nose to the opposite side, and partially
occupies the forehead. The inflamed parts are intensely red, and con-
siderably elevated above the surrounding skin. She is exceedingly ill
ERYSIPELAS.
201
presenting all the signs of low fever, such as prostration of strength,
delirium, intense headache, hot dry skin, rapid pulse, incessant thirst,
and thickly-coated, brown and dry tongue.
Take Aconite 3d, and Belladonna 3d, alternately, every four hours.
28th.-Constitutionally much better: skin soft and cool; tongue
moist; less thirst and headache. The erysipelas spreading more com-
pletely over the face, and forming at numerous spots into blisters, or
vesications; both eyes entirely closed by the swelling of the lids, and
surrounding parts.
Rhus Toxicodendron 6th, every three hours.
29th.—A decided check to the eruption: it has not extended since
yesterday, is less vivid, and the blisters are drying up. Her health is
better. The fever has subsided.
Resume the use of Belladonna.
30th.-Wonderfully better. Both eyes quite open, and she has been
reading. The eruption fading rapidly, and her health improving in pro-
portion.
31st.-Perfectly well as regards her health. The skin peeling off the
face.
A dose of Hepar Sulphuris. Cured.
CASE IV.-E. S-, a florid, plethoric young lady, aged
11 years.
July 8th, 1848.-Had erysipelas some years ago. She came home
much heated by a run, two or three days since. Yesterday morning she
awoke very ill; had shivering, headache, and thirst, with pains in her
bones; and at the same time a red spot made its appearance on one
cheek; this has now spread over the nose, and invades the other side of
the face. The redness is intensely vivid; and the parts are swollen and
very painful. The constitutional symptoms run unusually high. Her
pulse is very rapid; skin burning hot; mouth and tongue dry and
parched with thirst; splitting headache.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 3d, alternately, four hours apart.
9th. The inflammation has extended on to the forehead, and lower
down on the cheeks, but it is not nearly so vividly red. The fever still
runs high.
Continue the medicines.
១៩
202
ERYSIPELAS.
At two o'clock she becomes delirious, and excessively restless. Pulse
140, full, and hard.
Take the medicine every hour.
Nine in the evening. She has been quite calm since four o'clock, and
is now much better. The fever and thirst have greatly abated, and she
feels quite another creature.
10th. Wonderfully better. Constitutional excitement has all va-
nished. The eruption is spreading no further, and is getting paler and
less swollen.
Continue Belladonna, at long intervals.
11th.-Dressed and down stairs; wanting food, and in other respects
convalescent.
12th.-Playing about the room with her sisters. She is quite well.
The skin is peeling off, and shows no other trace of the disease.
CASE V.-Mrs. F—, aged 63.
December 29th, 1853.-Felt the first symptoms of erysipelas in the
face yesterday, when there appeared a spot about the size of a crown
piece on the left cheek, which has continued to spread, and now occupies
the whole of the cheek, side of head to the ear, up over the eyebrow to
forehead, involving the left eye, and closing it completely; the surface
is intensely red, and hot. She has much fulness of the head, thirst, hot
skin, and dry tongue. She is liable to these attacks: the last happened
in the summer when she was in the country, and for which she had
no medical treatment; it lasted three weeks.
Take a mixture of the Tincture of Apis 3d, every three hours,
preceding it by three doses of Aconite 3d, every two hours.
30th. The eruption has subsided greatly on the left cheek, and now
extends to the right cheek, the forehead, upper lip, and chin. The con-
stitutional symptoms are much relieved.
Continue the medicine.
31st. The eruption has greatly abated altogether, and now only
appears in patches. The health also still mending.
Continue the medicine.
January 2d. Sitting up. The lower eyelids only show traces of the
disease. Pulsatilla, to quiet some gastric symptoms. In a day or two
she was quite well.
1
ERYSIPELAS.
203
This is an interesting case, first, as showing the comparative
value of Homœopathy, and no treatment; secondly, as evidence
of the power of Apis, in stopping the progress of the disease.
It was a very severe case, and she recovered more quickly than
from any previous attack.
I have notes of a host of other cases which occurred in
almost every form, in every degree of intensity, and in per-
sons of all ages. A sufficient number are here detailed to
show, that in those of the most formidable character, Homœ-
opathic remedies may be relied on with more unfailing confi-
dence than can be awarded to sulphate of zinc, nitrate of
silver, punctures, or even Mr. Lawrence's "instalments."
SCARLET FEVER.
Ir is customary to include under the head of "eruptive
fevers," the names of a considerable number of affections;
but as the greater part of them are merely symptoms attend-
ant upon other disorders, and possess none of the distinctive
characters of the true exanthemata, beyond the mere discolo-
ration of the skin, it appears more correct to restrict the term
to smallpox, scarlet-fever, and measles. Between these
there are certain points of resemblance, which not only prove
their close pathological affinity, but also as strongly distin-
guish them from every other family of diseases. They are
all highly infectious; are chiefly incidental to the period of
childhood; and are attended with a uniform eruption on the
skin; they run a defined course; and for the most part
appear but once in the same individual.
The first of these diseases, notwithstanding that it does
occasionally present itself, is so fast succumbing to the power
of vaccination, as to warrant one in anticipating its complete
extinction, when that preventive shall be more universally
adopted. On this account it has not been thought necessary
to give it a separate notice, or to swell this volume with any
illustrative cases. *
*Living under the benign influence of vaccination, persons of the
present day, have but an inadequate conception of the fearful ravages
which the smallpox formerly committed. Whole districts were, at
times, nearly depopulated by its progress, and those persons who were
fortunate enough to escape its fatal influence, but too commonly bore
about with them, for the remainder of their lives, the disfiguring traces
SCARLET FEVER.
205
Since the decline of smallpox, scarlet fever has assumed
the foremost place among the eruptive fevers. Varying
of its invasion. These frightful effects have almost entirely disappeared
with the last generation, and, except in large and populous towns,
(where infection will ever maintain its firmest hold), even the disease
itself is almost unknown; or, if known, appears in a form so subdued as
to excite no more apprehension than any ordinary complaint. The com-
parative exemption which we thus enjoy, from the inroads of one of the
most deadly and universal scourges with which the human race was ever
afflicted, is due to the genius and perseverance of the illustrious dis-
coverer of vaccination-EDWARD JENNER. Less chequered in his
worldly circumstances than his contemporary HAHNEMANN, there are in
his life many points of resemblance to that of the discoverer of
Homœopathy.
In the first place, the important truths which they were destined to
unfold were suggested to both by accident.
JENNER. "While engaged as an apprentice, JENNER had his atten-
tion frequently called to a popular notion, current in the dairy districts
of Gloucestershire, that cows were subject to a disorder called the cow-
pox, which was sometimes communicated to the milkers, who became
thereby protected from the smallpox. One such occasion is particularly
recorded. A young countrywoman came into the shop to seek advice.
The subject of smallpox was mentioned in her presence: she imme-
diately observed, "I cannot take that disease, for I have had cowpox."
This little incident rivetted the attention of JENNER. Young as he then
was, he dwelt with deep interest on a communication thus casually made
to him by an uninstructed peasant, and foresaw in some degree the vast
consequences which might result from so extraordinary a fact.”
HAHNEMANN.—Having achieved no mean reputation, both as a
physician and as an author, in the old school of medicine, HAHNEMANN,
wearied and disgusted with the uncertainty, and want of fixidity of
principle everywhere prevalent in that system, had relinquished the
practice of his profession, and betaken himself to the occupation of
translating foreign works into his mother tongue.
*Whilst engaged, in the year 1790, in translating into German the
*Concise View of Homœopathy,' Dublin.
!
206
SCARLET FEVER.
much in intensity at different periods, according to the
operation of certain inexplicable influences, it is at all times
Materia Medica of the Scotch physician, Dr. Cullen, his attention was
so much attracted by the various and apparently incompatible pro-
perties attributed to Peruvian bark by that author, that he was induced
to try the effects of that substance upon himself. He was in perfect health
at the time, but to his astonishment, he found that repeated doses of
decoction of bark produced in him febrile symptoms, bearing great
resemblance to those of a certain kind of intermittent fever, known by
the name of ague. As bark had long been known as a specific for the
cure of ague, his sagacious mind suspected that something more than
mere accident had caused this substance to produce symptoms so nearly
resembling those of the disease which it cured. This phenomenon made
upon his mind an impression similar to that which the fall of the apple
made upon the mind of Newton; and from this attack of fever, thus
artificially produced, may be dated the origin of Homœopathy."
2dly. Both laboured long and unweariedly to satisfy their own
minds of the soundness of their views, before they divulged them to the
world.
JENNER.—Seventeen years after the brilliant idea of propagating cow-
pox by innoculation first struck JENNER, we find him "prepared to com-
municate to the world his long and anxious investigations concerning the
cowpox. His work was ready in June, 1797, but he delayed the
publication of it for twelve months, partly that he might profit by the
advice of his friends, and partly in the hope of strengthening his argu-
ment by additional experiments. This he was happily enabled to do in
April, 1798; and the new trials having been equally successful with
the first, he felt justified in announcing to the world the discovery of
vaccine inoculation."*
HAHNEMANN." Coinciding with the immortal Haller, that remedies
should not be employed in disease until their effects were known on
persons in health, Hahnemann conducted a course of experiments
upon himself and friends, patiently enduring the annoyance of a
rigid regimen, and the severe suffering produced by the medicines.
After thus labouring in the cause of truth for fifteen years,
* Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine,' vol. iv, p. 403.
he
•
.
SCARLET FEVER.
207
a sufficiently severe disease to demand extreme care. It is
one of those complaints concerning which it is never safe to
published, in 1805, his Fragmenta de viribus medicamentorum
positivis."
3dly.--Both discoveries were received by the profession in the first
instance with apathy and mistrust, and exposed their authors to ridi-
cule, calumny, and persecution.
Of JENNER it is said, "If he had much to elate him (and applause
certainly fell to his lot more than most men could have borne), his
sensitive mind had, on the other hand, much to endure, during the
whole course of the inquiries and transactions in which he was engaged.
Severe and umerited reproaches were cast upon him by enemies, and he
was perpetually wounded by the desertion of friends. Attempts were
made to injure his reputation, and even to impeach his moral cha-
racter, and to interfere with that distinction and reward which his
country conferred upon him." "The persecutors of Galileo (says Dr.
Baron), would, I believe, have been eclipsed in their monstrous and
outrageous hostility to the splendid discoveries of that illustrious man,
by some of the opponents of vaccination, had the spirit of the age,
or their own power, enabled them to carry their designs into exe-
cution."
Of HAHNEMANN. -" It was impossible for him, or those belong-
ing to him, to cross the threshold of his dwelling without being exposed
to the most offensive raillery, and the grossest insults. They even
went so far as to assail his house, and break the windows with
stones."
4thly.—Alike in the importance of the truths which they propounded,
and the opposition which they had to encounter, they both had the
satisfaction of seeing their principles recognised, and were alike
honoured and respected in the sunset of their days.
JENNER. "After ten years (during which period he was by no
means in independent circumstances) spent in promulgating his doc-
trine, and diffusing its blessings, his country testified its gratitude to
its benefactor, by voting him a grant of £30,000; and JENNER died
leaving behind him a name which will endure to the end of time."
Of HAHNEMANN we read-" When the project he had conceived (of
208
SCARLET FEVER.
pronounce a confident prognostication. Cases commencing in
the most favorable way, and promising to terminate as favor-
ably, may, by the accession of dangerous throat or chest
symptoms, suddenly assume the most alarming aspect, and
baffle all our remedial efforts. In other instances, after the
disease has run its course without any untoward circum-
stances, and the patient seems to be beyond the reach of its
influence, one of its unfortunate sequelæ, especially kidney-
disease and dropsy, may overtake him, and not only subject
him to much suffering, but even place his life in jeopardy.
These contingences, at all times troublesome, are much
removing to Paris) became known to the population of Koethen, it pro-
duced such a sensation, that the people threatened to detain the old
doctor by force. Yet he was the same man, whom, fifteen years before,
they had pursued with insults and injury. In the year 1835 he went to
reside in Paris. In that great centre of science and art he finally found
the full acknowledgment of his merits; his house became the place of
rendezvous of men of the highest rank, in science and society, and it is
most gratifying to his admirers to know, that after a long life of toil,
hardships, and persecution, he passed the last seven years of his earthly
career in almost uninterrupted peace and happiness. He died in 1843,
in the 89th year of his age, acknowledged to be one of the greatest bene-
factors to mankind that ever lived."
The lives of these two men form an apt illustration of the correctness
of the maxim, "Magna est veritas, et prævalebit." ("Truth is great, and
will prevail.")
All great principles have to pass through three stages, ere their
truthfulness is universally acknowledged. The first is that of un-
reasoning and obstinate incredulity, in which the mere newness of
a principle is considered sufficient to justify the most strenuous oppo-
sition.
The second is that of partial reception, in which even its opponents
are compelled to admit that "there is something in it," though its pro-
pounders carry it too far.
The third is that of universal acceptation, in which surprise is mani-
fested that it should ever have been doubted, and it is proclaimed as
clear as sunshine, and as lucid as a moonbeam.
SCARLET FEVER.
209
more to be dreaded under the old system of treatment than
under the new. Inadequate to subdue even the simple
form of quinsy, in scarlatina, where it depends upon, and
is aggravated by, the fever, Allopathic means are equally
inadequate. These symptoms seldom manifest themselves,
except in weakly, scrofulous patients; and leeches, blisters,
&c., whilst they possess little power over the original disease,
can but increase the existing debility. The same remarks
are equally applicable to inflammation of the lungs, in which
those remedies are necessarily employed with greater free-
dom.
If there is any one point in Homœopathic practice better
established than another, it is the power of Belladonna in
controlling an attack of scarlet fever. Truly specific in its
action, not only does it moderate the skin-disease, and so
allay the general excitement of the system, but it also, as in
quinsy, exerts a powerful influence over inflammatory affec-
tions of the throat. Though by no means the only Homo-
opathic remedy in scarlatina, this double action (if we may
use such a term) of Belladonna, renders its employment
especially desirable in the majority of cases; and my own
experience leads me to believe, that, with the exception of the
malignant or putrifying form, there are very few cases, which,
under its action, may not be conducted to a speedy and favor-
able issue.
CASE I.-A. L-, a stout child, aged 5 years.
February 8th, 1847.—Has been ill five days. One or two other
children in the same house have had the fever. The father, who knows
something of physic, has given them some simple medicines, and they
have recovered favorably. The subject of the present case has received
the same attention, and in addition (the symptoms running high), has
had its head shaved, and cold lotions applied. In spite of all this she
has continued to get worse from the first, and is now so alarmingly ill
as to induce the parents to seek my assistance. The eruption is dis-
210
SCARLET FEVER.
tinct, and well out over the whole body. The skin is dry and burning
hot; her pulse is rapid and full; she is intensely thirsty; her tongue is
parched and deep red; her throat and neck on both sides are much
swollen, aud impede her swallowing. She is heavy in the head and
drowsy, and takes no notice except when aroused.
Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 6th, alternately, every four hours.
9th.-Reported by its mother as greatly relieved in every respect.
Continue the Belladonna.
10th.-Convalescent. All the above symptoms have disappeared, and
she craves food. The eruption is all gone off, and skin peeling; the head
well; the neck its natural size, &c.
To finish, and then discontinue, its medicine.
CASE II.-S. L—, aged 8 years. Brother of the
foregoing.
February 12th, 1847.-Has been ill two days. The eruption
well marked. He has now a good deal of fever, headache and
thirst; some sore throat; swelling in the neck; and pain extending
to the ears.
Take Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
13th. More lively and less feverish than yesterday; his head is also
relieved, and there is no thirst. He complains of his tongue being very
sore, and of pains in his ears. His breath smells offensive.
Take Mercurius 6th, three times a day.
15th.-Nearly well. The eruption has disappeared. No fever or
thirst. He complains only of a little soreness in the throat, and accu-
mulation of phlegm at the back of the mouth.
Take Belladonna at night, and Mercurius in the morning. Cured.
CASE III.—E. L-, aged 12 years. A fair, rather delicate
girl.
June 9th, 1847.—Was brought home from school yesterday. She has
been languid some days. The eruption displayed itself this morning,
with vomiting, and other severe symptoms. The skin is intensely red.
and burning hot; her throat is very sore; she cannot swallow even a
SCARLET FEVER.
211
little liquid without much inconvenience. She is very thirsty, and re-
quires something to moisten her mouth every five minutes; her tongue
is red, and dry at the tip, and covered with a thick, white, coating in the
centre. Her pulse is 140 in the minute, and very full and hard. She
complains much of pain in the head, which she keeps buried in the pillow,
and is quite unable to raise. All these symptoms mark it as a very severe
attack.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 6th, alternately, every four hours.
10th.-Suffering much with her throat; but otherwise doing very
well. Pulse rapid, and much fever.
Continue the medicine.
11th. She sits up in bed, and looks cheerful. The eruption has
nearly disappeared from the face. The body and limbs are still intensely
red. The skin is not so hot, and the pulse less rapid; tongue quite
clean, but very red throughout; the glands in the throat are still swollen,
but not so much inflamed, nor is there any ulceration. She swallows
more easily.
Take Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
12th. Altogether greatly better. The constitutional symptoms all
rapidly subsiding: she has an inclination for food. The eruption still
out, but not so vivid.
Belladonna at bedtime.
14th. She feels well. The eruption has disappeared; the skin is
peeling; her throat is quite well.
To take light food and discontinue medicine.
CASE IV.-E. B—, a girl, aged 4 years.
June 25th, 1847.-Has been poorly a day or two-languid, lying
about the house, and unwilling to move. Yesterday morning the scarlet
eruption came out all over the body. There is burning heat in the skin,
and general fever of a severe character. Her throat is swollen both
outwardly and inwardly, impeding the swallow so much that she can only
get down a drop or two of water at a time.
She had a dose of Aconite last night; and to-day is to take
Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
26th.—The throat is greatly relieved. The swelling is much less, and
she can swallow without much difficulty. The eruption keeps well out.
She complains this afternoon of pain in the stomach.
Take Pulsatilla 12th, directly; to-morrow resume the Belladonna.
212
SCARLET FEVER.
From this time she progressed most favorably; and to-day, the 29th,
she is up, and about the room, appearing well, with the exception of
weakness. The eruption has disappeared, she has no fever, and the
throat is quite well.
CASE V.-M. A. B—, a girl, aged 13 years.
above.
Sister of the
Her
July 5th, 1847.-She got up with sore throat yesterday morning.
Felt very poorly, went to bed again, and in the evening the eruption
made its appearance.
It now covers nearly the whole body.
throat is very much swollen, preventing her swallowing anything.
The constitutional symptoms run high—much thirst, fever, and head-
ache.
Commence with two doses of Aconite; then take Belladonna 12th,
every four hours.
7th. Her throat is greatly relieved: she can drink with ease. There
is not nearly so much fever and heat. She is altogether doing remark-
ably well. There are two children next door, laid up with the same
complaint, and suffering dreadfully with throat-affection.
treated the old way, with leeches, poultices, &c.
The child continued the Belladonna two or three days longer, and was
then convalescent.
They are
CASE VI.-C. R-, a lad, aged 15 years.
August 16th, 1847.-Taken poorly two days since. He is now in
bed, exceedingly ill. The eruption appeared yesterday: it is well out.
The skin is dry, and burning hot; he has high fever; extreme
headache and thirst; his tongue is dry, parched, and brown in the
centre. His throat is greatly inflamed and swollen, so that he can
neither turn his head, nor swallow, without much pain and difficulty.
Take Aconite 6th, and Belladonna 6th, alternately, every four hours.
17th--The eruption is out vividly over the whole body. The
general excitement of the system has much abated: there is less thirst,
heat, and headache; the throat, though still sore, is less painful and
swollen.
Continue Belladonna.
SCARLET FEVER.
213
18th.-Great amendment in every respect. The throat, which
threatened to be severely affected, now causes but little inconvenience.
Continue the medicine.
19th. Still progressing most favorably. The eruption has nearly
disappeared. The throat is well; and in every other way he may be
pronounced convalescent.
Take a few more doses of Belladonna. Cured.
I have notes of several successful cases of a more dangerous
kind than those here detailed. They were of a typhoid type:
attended with extreme prostration of strength, and severe head
symptoms; stupor, screaming, slight convulsions; ulceration
of the throat, lips, nose, &c. Recovery from these cases being
always slow, the treatment was necessarily protracted and
varied. Their recital, though interesting in a medical
point of view, would be wearisome to the general reader,
and would occupy more space than can be afforded them
here.
I have, likewise, records of a considerable number of cases
of dropsy, following scarlatina. Under Allopathic treatment
this is always a most troublesome, frequently an intractable,
symptom. I have never seen a case, unless it had been ne-
glected, and allowed to attain to a very aggravated state, which
did not yield to Helleborus, Cantharis, Arsenicum, Digitalis,
&c.
MEASLES.
THIS disease forms the third and last of the eruptive fevers
we proposed to notice. Less severe and fatal than scarlatina,
it is yet at times, on account of its complication with in-
flammation of the respiratory organs, a serious and trouble-
some complaint. There appears to exist a direct and
unaccountable connexion between it and hooping-cough,
since, in numberless instances, no sooner does the child emerge
from the one, than it lapses into the other. This sequence,
together with inflammation of the eyes and disease of the ears,
originating in a debilitated and scrofulous state of the
system, often causes more trouble and anxiety than the pri-
mary disease.
The same objections which were urged against the ordinary
treatment of scarlet fever, obtain with even greater force in
measles. In this disease the patients are less able to bear
depleting remedies, on account of the greater tendency which
the eruption manifests to "strike inward" and implicate
some important internal organ. Unable to subdue inflam-
matory symptoms (especially in children) by any other
than depletory measures, the Allopathist is compelled, when
those symptoms present themselves, either to suffer them
to pursue their destructive course uninterruptedly, or, by
depleting, to incur the still greater risk arising from ex-
haustion.
The subsequent cases, presenting some severe examples of
the complications in question, show, also, with what facility,
remedies, applied in accordance with an immutable law of
nature, will subdue a disease, which, treated as in Allopathy,
MEASLES.
215
without any such guidance, so often baffles the efforts of the
prescriber, and terminates disastrously.
CASE I.-G. B-, aged 3 years. A spare, delicate boy.
May 30th, 1847.-Was feverish and poorly on the 28th ult.; on the
following evening he was brought to me, labouring under all the pre-
monitory symptoms of measles, viz.-sneezing, suffusion of the eyes, a
short barking cough, languor, headache, and thirst; and at the same time
a few suspicious looking red spots occupied the nose and cheeks.
Gave Pulsatilla 6th, to be taken at bedtime.
To-day he is in bed, with a very full crop of measles. The system is
much excited his pulse is quick, breathing rapid, cough distressing;
there is much thirst, but the tongue is moist, and the skin perspiring.
Continue Pulsatilla, every six hours.
June 1st. He is sitting in his mother's lap, crying for food. He has
been playing about the room at intervals. His skin is cool, and nicely
perspiring; there is but very little thirst, and the cough is not so
troublesome. The eruption is fading from the face, but still remains
well out on the body.
Continue the medicine, at longer intervals.
3d. The eruption disappearing from the body generally.
5th.-Convalescent: has recovered his spirits, and is playing about
the room, as usual. Cured.
There is another child in the house, labouring under the same disease,
and is treated Allopathically. It is purged in the bowels: the eruption
disappearing from the skin, the head becomes congested, symptoms of
inflammation threaten, and mustard poultices, baths, &c. &c., are em-
ployed, as a matter of course.
CASE II.—I. M-, a very delicate boy, aged 6 years.
August 23d, 1847.-Has been languid and poorly some days. Yesterday
a slight eruption showed itself on the face. To-day it is out vividly on
nearly every part of the body. He is very ill constitutionally having a
full, throbbing, and rapid pulse (140 in the minute), quick breathing, a
hard cough, much thirst, headache, and drowsiness.
Take Aconite 6th, directly; after the lapse of four hours, begin
with Belladonna 6th, and repeat it at like intervals.
216
MEASLES.
24th.-Had a very restless night, but is much relieved this morning :
more wakeful and sensible; breathing not so rapid; and the cough not
so harassing; neither is he so thirsty, and hot. The eruption well out.
Pulsatilla 12th, every six hours,
25th. Decided amendment in every respect. The eruption fading.
In the evening he is troubled with soreness of the throat, difficulty in
swallowing, headache, and feverishness.
Take Belladonna 6th, at bedtime.
26th and 27th.-Relieved of the last-named symptoms, but seized this
morning with signs of inflammation of the lungs, viz.-pain in the chest,
cough, rapid breathing, and general fever.
Take Aconite 6th, every four hours.
31st. These symptoms have disappeared, and the child is well, with
the exception of a little bronchial cough.
A few doses of Pulsatilla. Cured.
CASE III.-H. I-, a female child, aged 13 months; small
and delicate.
October 6th, 1847.-She was labouring under the premonitory symp-
toms some days before the eruption appeared. It came out yesterday
on the face and trunk. To-day it is much less vivid on these parts, and
has not appeared at all on the limbs. The child is very ill; drowsy and
lethargic; feverish and hot; breathing loud and laboriously.
Take Bryonia 12th, every four hours.
7th.-Inflammation of the lungs fully established: rapid, catching
breath; hot, parched skin; almost incessant cough; very quick pulse;
is unable to take the breast. The eruption very faint.
Take Aconite 6th, every two hours.
8th. Still dangerously ill: the principal change consisting in di-
minished heat of skin.
Bryonia 12th, every four hours.
9th.-Loud bronchial breathing, rapid, and confined to the upper
portion of the chest. The lower portion dull in percussion, and respi-
ration. In other respects very ill.
Take Phosphorus 12th, every two hours.
10th. Amazing relief in every way. The breathing comparatively
calm and regular; the skin cool, soft, and perspiring; its eyes are bright,
and it sucks freely.
Continue the medicine, at lengthened intervals.
MEASLES.
217
11th. Still improving, but there is a violent spasmodic cough.
Take Belladonna 12th, three times a day.
From this period the child recovered rapidly, and without interruption.
CASE IV.-Mrs. B—'s child, a boy, aged 18 months.
November 12th, 1847.-The eruption has been out twenty-four hours,
pretty fully, but of rather a dark colour. He is now labouring under the
symptoms of acute inflammation of the lungs, viz.—short rapid breathing,
burning skin, insatiable thirst, and rapid pulse. The head is likewise
implicated: he is drowsy, heavy, and lethargic; the pupils are closely
contracted, and the scalp is very hot; the eyes are inflamed, and the
eyelids swollen; the mouth is foul; the gums ulcerated; and the lips
covered with glutinous saliva.
Take Aconite 6th, every two hours.
13th. The inflammatory symptoms much less urgent: the skin not
so hot, nor the breathing so difficult. The head much the same as before.
The eruption still showing, but faintly, and of a dark colour.
Take Aconite 6th, and Bryonia 6th, alternately, every four hours.
14th.—The inflammation of the chest apparently subdued, the breathing
being deep, and natural in frequency; the skin not particularly heated,
and the pulse less frequent. The head symptoms are now the most
prominent he is drowsy and lethargic, taking no notice when not
aroused, and, when disturbed, immediately relapsing into his former
state. The eyes are clear, the pupils contracted. The pulse quick
and full.
Take Cuprum Acetat, 12th, every four hours.
From this date the case assumed all the appearance of water on the
brain. There were convulsions and spasms of the limbs; first contracted,
then dilated pupils; complete insensibility; foul tongue; rapid pulse;
and great heat of head. He rallied under the persevering use of Belladonna,
Helleborus, Mercurius, and Sulphur. On the 19th he had so far revived
as to take notice of what was going on around him, and on the 25th was
able to sit up. He had subsequently Arsenicum and Phosphoric Acid,
for some relaxation of the bowels, and the debility consequent upon so
severe an illness.
10
218
MEASLES.
CASE V.—A. I—, a girl, aged 5 years.
November 15th, 1847.-The eruption made its appearance three days
ago it is now somewhat subsiding. Yesterday she was taken very ill,
with head and chest affection. Her breathing is short and quick; she
coughs with a good deal of pain; pulse rapid and full; skin hot and dry;
thirsty. Her face is livid and bloated; her eyes are firmly closed to
avoid the light, and when opened by force are found to be red and in-
flamed. She has much headache, and is drowsy and sleepy.
Take Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
The next day she was so much relieved of all these alarming symptoms
as to be able to get up and be dressed. She continued the medicine two
days longer, and was, at the end of that time, quite well.
ACUTE RHEUMATISM.
A modern writer has stated it as his opinion that medi-
cine has been, and still continues to be, so conjectural and
uncertain, that our astonishment at the auxiety with which
empirics have been sought after and followed, is much
diminished."*
Every one who reflects on the subject, must acknowledge
the correctness of this observation. It is beyond dispute
that the most powerful perpetuating cause of quackery is the
lamentable uncertainty which characterises the prevailing
system of medicine.
When men of the highest acquirements in the profession
are found diametrically opposed to each other in matters
both of opinion and practice; when we see different schools of
medicine each propounding its own favorite dogmas; almost
every teacher starting, as a stepping stone to popularity, some
new and fanciful theory, and every medical man not only differing
from his neighbour, but even himself losing to-day his own
identity of yesterday, can it be wondered at that the public
should lose faith in a system, fruitful only in such instability
and change, and award to the ignorant, but more consistent
pretender, that confidence which should be enjoyed by the
educated and qualified practitioner!
Discarding its present system of patchwork and haphazard,
let the profession adopt in its place one which possesses
those qualities, so indispensable to success-uniformity, and
permanency; and it will have nothing to fear from its nos-
trum-vending rival. Until it does this, the quack will con-
tinue to share with the medical man both the practice and
the profit which belong, legitimately, only to the latter.
What the world looks for, and has a right to demand, as well
*T. J. Pettigrew, Esq., on 'The Superstitions of Medicine and Surgery."
220
ACUTE RHEUMATISM.
from medicine as from other sciences, is fixity in its principles,
and a corresponding certainty in their practical application.
Finding these, persons would as little dream of consulting
the ignorant impostor to rid them of their bodily ailments, as
they would of seeking the counsel of the uninitiated in legal
matters, to extricate them from the meshes of an intricate
legal question. The dark deeds of quackery can no more co-
exist with the light of truth, than can midnight blackness
with the brightness of noon-day. It must in short be con-
fessed, that the empiric owes infinitely more to the imper-
fections of the medical art as at present pursued, than to the
much abused credulity of the public.
Let us now see how far this is borne out by the ordinary
mode of treating rheumatism-a fair test of the question,
since this one disease has originated more quackery than all
the rest put together.
There may be found in the Allopathic treatment of many
diseases, some one point on which an approach, at least, to
unanimity may be discovered-such, for instance, as the
abstraction of blood in inflammation of the lungs, and the use
of opium in delirium tremens. In the treatment of rheuma-
tism no such rallying point exists. Here every man feels
himself at liberty to raise his own standard.
The buffed and cupped appearance of the blood is the great
sign of inflammation, and the most trustworthy criterion of
the safety of repeating the bleeding. Acute rheumatism is
a highly inflammatory disorder; yet, says Dr. Elliotson, "we
shall find it (the blood,) buffed and cupped. But there is no
danger from this circumstance; for if we go on bleeding, we
may find the blood buffed and cupped, till we have got nearly
all the blood out of the body." An instance of this sort came
under my own observation some years ago. I was called to
visit a patient, in conjunction with a young physician, who
had been attending him three weeks, and had verified Dr.
Elliotson's words almost to the letter. The patient was
reduced to the lowest ebb by repeated venesections, and on.
ACUTE RHEUMATISM.
221
my inquiring upon what grounds this had been done, the
doctor brought forward a basinful of recently-drawn blood,
and pointed triumphantly to its strongly marked cup-shape,
and thickly buffed coat, as an undeniable justification of his
treatment. How much further this draining might have been
carried, but for the intervention of a little advice suggested
by greater experience, it is impossible to determine; but it
shows to what a broken reed those practitioners trust who use
the lancet in this disease.
Equally uncertain and indefinite is the rule for employing
other remedies. Some rest all their hopes on mercury; others
on the use of bark; colchicum has a band of admirers; iodine
another; some trust to salines; some to purgatives; and,
recently, a thick covering of wadding has been extolled, as
the most effectual means of relief.
It is, however, in the treatment of chronic rheumatism, that
quackery finds its stronghold. Unrestrained in these cases by
the severe and dangerous symptoms which attend the disease
in its acute form, the empiric finds time and scope for the
exercise of his ingenuity in devising, and of his perseverance
in applying, his remedies; and the patient, too well aware of
the uncertainty which attaches to regular practice, submits
himself a willing victim to his irregular adviser. Without
asserting that in doing this he chooses the lesser evil, it may
be questioned whether he does not select the least painful,
for, among the external remedies most in vogue, are, bleeding,
cupping, leeching, blisters, setons, mustard-poultices, liniments,
embrocations, and acupuncture! The quack may be the less
successful practitioner of the two: he is certainly the most
merciful.
These remarks are not intended to convey the erroneous
impression that Homoeopathy encounters no difficulties in
curing rheumatism. On the contrary, it must be confessed
that under the best treatment that can be brought to bear
upon it, there is that about it, which renders it, at times, an
exceedingly obstinate and intractable disease. But between
Uor M
222
ACUTE RHEUMATISM.
the two modes of treatment, there is this great and essential
difference, that, whilst Allopathy is uncertain, unscientific,
and haphazard in its principles, painful in its practice, and, on
that account, often unsuccessful in its results; Homœopathy,
even when unsuccessful, has the sting of failure removed, by
the consciousness of having acted on fixed and philosophical
principles, and of having added nothing to the sufferings of
the patient, by the torturing character of its remedies. That
a cure should result from the latter, where failure had attended
the former, is what one would naturally expect, and what
experience proves to be the case.
CASE I.-G. M—, a man, aged 32 years.
January 16th, 1848.-Some years ago was confined eighteen weeks
with this disease. He is much exposed in his occupation to sud-
den alternations of temperature. He caught cold a few days ago,
and the present attack has been creeping on ever since. Both
ankles and wrists, and the left knee, are much swollen, red, and so
exquisitely painful and tender, that he cannot bear the least touch, or
movement, of those parts. He lies on his back like a person paralysed.
He gets no sleep his pulse is full and rapid; skin hot and dry;
the breathing short and quick, and attended with a good deal of
cough and expectoration. He is very thirsty; his tongue is foul;
he has of course no appetite. He has taken aperient medicine with-
out benefit.
:
Aconite 3d, every three hours.
17th.-Diminution of the febrile symptoms: the limbs as pain-
ful, and as much swollen as before. The right knee is now impli-
cated.
Take Bryonia 3d, alternately with the Aconite, every four hours.
19th.-Very great amendment. The ankles and right knee are com-
paratively well. The left wrist and hand, though weak and puffed,
admit of free motion. He has had some sound sleep during the last
two nights, but wakes in a profuse perspiration: he has but little fever
or thirst.
Take Mercurius 12th, every four hours.
22d. He has progressed most satisfactorily since the last date. He
MOU
ACUTE RHEUMATISM.
223
retains but little trace of his complaint. The limbs are restored to their
natural appearance. He suffers no pain; the perspirations have ceased;
he has no fever nor thirst; his tongue is clean, and he has a good
appetite. The chest symptoms, spoken of in the first instance, have
entirely disappeared.
Continue Mercurius, three times a day.
25th.-Quite convalescent. At times has some dragging pains across
the shoulders.
Take Rhus 12th, twice a day.
He required no further aid.
CASE II.—Mrs. D—, aged 30 years.
January 18th, 1848.-She keeps a shop, in a damp situation, and is
much exposed to draughts of cold air.
Was seized three days ago, with shiverings, and other symptoms of
a cold, which resulted in the present severe attack of rheumatic fever.
She is confined to bed: the knees, left arm, and shoulder, are the parts
most affected. They are hot, dry, and swollen (especially the knees),
red, and so intensely painful as to render her incapable of bearing
the least motion, and entirely preclude sleep, night and day. She is
very thirsty; complains much of headache; her pulse is rapid.
Take Aconite 3d, every four hours.
:
21st. Some subsidence of the fever in other respects not much
amendment. The pain has extended to the back, completely pinioning
the arms, and rendering her as helpless as a child.
Take Aconite 12th, and Bryonia 3d, alternately, every four hours.
24th. The febrile symptoms have much abated. She is also more
free from pain gets a good deal of sleep; has but little thirst;
no headache, and altogether enjoys great relief. Her skin is bathed
in moisture.
Take Aconite 3d, every night, at bedtime; and Mercurius, every
four hours in the day.
26th.-Progressive amendment.
Continue the medicines.
29th. Is entirely free from pain: has no fever. Her only complaint
now is weakness.
She had previously suffered severely from two protracted attacks of
this disease, and was, on that account, the more gratified at her rapid
recovery on the present occasion.
224
ACUTE RHEUMATISM.
CASE III.-Henry P-, aged 36 years. Has had three
previous attacks of rheumatic fever. By each of the first
two he was confined fifteen weeks, and eleven weeks by
the last.
September 26th, 1848.-He has now been ill a long time, though
not sufficiently so to keep him from his employment, and during the
whole period has been under medical treatment. Five days ago the
symptoms assumed so aggravated a form as to compel him to take to
his bed. He has been taking colchicum, iodine, Dover's powders, &c.,
without benefit. The pain now occupies the right hand and wrist,
left foot and knee, and the back of the neck. These parts are swollen,
hot, tender to the touch, and intolerant of the least motion. He is
feverish and thirsty; has headache; full, hard pulse; and a short,
hacking cough.
Take Aconite 3d, and Bryonia 3d, alternately, four hours apart.
28th.—Amendment: head in particular much easier; less fever.
Continue Bryonia. Aconite, at bedtime.
29th.-No pain or swelling in any of the joints, except the left knee.
No fever or thirst. Slept soundly last night. Complains of aching in
the loins.
30th. Still troubled with the pain in the back: otherwise com-
paratively well.
Rhus 12th, twice a day.
October 5th.-Up and dressed, and has been out walking. Good
appetite; gains strength rapidly.
Sulphur 12th, every day. Cured.
LUMBAGO.
THOUGH unattended, for the most part, by any great amount
of constitutional disturbance, Lumbago gives rise, at times, to
the most acute suffering. It often throws the patient upon
his back, and renders it impossible for him to assume any
other posture, till it is eradicated.
The remedies most commonly employed, consist, out-
wardly, of cupping, leeching, blisters, plasters, mustard-
poultices, embrocations, baths, &c.: inwardly, of purgatives,
opiates, diaphoretics, colchicum, iodine, and many other
medicines.
There is no form of rheumatism, as far as my experience
enables me to form an opinion, which yield so readily as this
to Homœopathic treatment. Bryonia, Nux Vomica, Rhus, &c.,
infinitely surpass, in their effects, anything I was ever able to
accomplish by Allopathic remedies.
The following cases bear me out in this assertion.
CASE I.-Mrs. W-, aged 33 years.
September 15th, 1848.-Six o'clock, evening. Had a chill a month
ago, and ever since has felt pains flying about different parts of the
body. Three days ago she became much worse, and at the present
time is confined to bed, and rendered entirely incapable of moving,
by a distracting pain across the loins, extending, also, round to the
hip, groin, and down the left leg. She is feverish, hot, and thirsty.
There are also some pains of a more mitigated character in both arms.
Take Aconite 3d, directly; Bryonia 3d, every two hours afterwards.
16th. At ten o'clock last night the pain began to abate, and
has continued to do so, and she is now comparatively easy and com-
fortable. She can move without difficulty, and has lost all the feverish
symptoms.
Continue Bryonia, every six hours.
10 §
226
LUMBAGO.
18th.-Up dressed, and has felt no inconvenience the last two days,
beyond a little aching in the loins yesterday evening.
Pulsatilla 12th.
Cured.
CASE II.—Mrs. S—, aged 45 years. Has now been ill three
days.
September 1st, 1847.—She has had two previous attacks of the same
complaint, for which she was bled twice, and cupped once. The present
one is quite as severe as either of the former. She is in bed, lying on
her back, quite unable to move, and screaming out with pain when
she attempts to do so. The pain extends across the loins, and down
the left leg. She has had no sleep the last two nights, and is thirsty
and feverish, and feels altogether very unwell. Her messenger was
sent to me with the request that I would go and bleed her; I preferred
sending her
Bryonia 3d, to be taken every two hours.
2d. She has had a good night. The second dose of medicine gave
her much relief, and she has continued to improve ever since. She has
comparatively little pain, and feels only a soreness remaining.
Continue the medicine, every four hours.
3d. She is all but well.
Take Pulsatilla 12th, twice a day.
4th. The soreness has left her: she has had a good night's rest, and
can get up and walk about comfortably.
5th. Perfectly restored.
CASE III.-I. H-, aged 37 years.
March 17th, 1847.-He had an attack of lumbago two years ago,
and ever since has felt pains in the loins at times. Was seized yester-
day, after employing rather unusual exertion, with very severe pain in
the loins, chiefly on the right side, passing through to the forepart of
the body. Pressure on that part, the least motion, or deep breathing,
increases the pain to an agonizing degree.
Take Rhus 3d, every three hours.
18th.-Very little better at present: he had a wretched night. The
pain has shifted slightly from its original seat.
Take Bryonia 3d, every two hours.
LUMBAGO.
227
19th. An amazing change. He got up this morning, dressed him-
self, and walked some distance, without inconvenience. He feels no
pain whatever to-day.
He had another supply of medicine, and resumed his employment the
day following.
CASE IV.-G. M—, aged 31 years.
May 18th, 1847.-Was seized yesterday, suddenly, with severe pain
across the loins, which has gone on increasing up to this time. He is in
bed, and can neither turn nor move, on account of the agony any at-
tempt to do so creates. The pain is more on the right side than the
left, and extends into the groins, and down to the toes. In other re-
spects he is pretty well. He has used oil to the back, and taken Friar's
balsam inwardly, to no purpose. His sufferings are now, to use his
own expression, "dreadful."
Take Bryonia 3d, every two hours.
19th.-Already greatly relieved: he has not half so much pain as
yesterday. He can get out of bed, and stand upright with tolerable
ease.
Continue the medicine.
20th.-Continued amendment. He is now, with the exception of
some stiffness in the back, comparatively well.
He had Nux Vomica, and resumed his employment a day or two after.
SCIATICA.
SCIATICA, generally considered to be inflammatory rheu-
matism of the sciatic or large nerve of the thigh, is, on the
whole, a more painful and obstinate affection than that of
which we have just been speaking. When suffered by ne-
glect to become confirmed, there are, indeed, few, if any dis-
eases, which entail upon their victims a greater amount of
suffering and inconvenience.
Like other forms of local rheumatism, it receives, at the
hands of the Allopathic practitioner, much the same kind of
treatment as lumbago.
The Homœopathic mode of dealing with it will be seen in
the following cases.
CASE I.-Mrs. B-, aged 36 years. A stout woman, of
dark complexion, and excitable temperament.
June 14th, 1848.-Has been poorly the last week, with dyspeptic
symptoms, and pain in the left hip and leg. This pain, the last two
days, has increased to an intolerable degree. It commences at the
posterior part of the hip, passes round to the groin, down the back of
the thigh to the knee (where it is very severe), and thence to the heel.
It becomes excruciating at times, especially so when she is warm in
bed; on that account she is forced to get up, but can neither sit, stand,
nor move, without great anguish. In the course of the night, and again
this morning, she was seized with paroxysms of fainting and crying;
she has no appetite, and feels nauseated.
Take Chamomilla 3d, every two hours.
15th.-Wonderfully relieved: she walks briskly from room to room,
and says she does not feel a tithe of the pain she did yesterday. She
had some sound sleep in the night.
Continue the medicine.
17th. She walks to my house from the City, a sufficient proof,
SCIATICA.
229
alone, of her amendment.
She retains little or no trace of her ail-
ment, but thinks it safe to continue the medicine a day or two longer.
Cured.
CASE II.-Mrs. M. A. E-, aged 23 years.
February 10th, 1847.-She got wet ten days ago, and has ever since
been troubled by occasional pains in the left leg. The day before
yesterday she was exposed to cold damp air, and was seized in the even-
ing with shivering, followed by severe pain, extending down the pos-
terior part of the limb, from the hip to the knee. Pressure over the
nerve, as well as movement, causes excessive agony. She is also suffer-
ing from all the symptoms of a cold.
Take Dulcamara 12th, every three hours.
12th.-Greatly relieved: has no pain in the lower half of the thigh,
and much less in the hip. She can sit down with ease, and walk a few
steps with but little inconvenience.
Continue the medicine, three times a day.
Two days later she was out walking, and entirely recovered without
further medical assistance.
CASE III.-L. G-, a full and large, though not robust, man,
aged about 50 years.
December 1st, 1847.-Seized suddenly, this morning, whilst dressing,
with a sharp pain in the right hip, which almost caused him to fall.
It passes from the hip to the groin, and extends down the outer side
of the thigh. It is of a darting, burning kind, and is so much increased
by movement, that he is compelled to remain on his back, though
constantly endeavouring to shift his position, in order to relieve his
suffering, which becomes increased at times, and in fits, almost beyond
endurance.
He had Arsenicum, Colocynth, and Pulsatilla.
Got ease after the first twenty-four hours, and on the 6th was well
enough to relinquish medical treatment.
TIC-DOULOUREUX.
THERE is nothing so intolerable to the mind as the idea of
prolonged pain. In anticipation, death appears preferable-
in realisation, the instinctive love of life alone renders it
endurable. Hence the dread engendered by the name of
tic-douloureux. Its associations are those of agonizing pain,
and indefinite duration-incurableness. Like other popular
impressions, this is doubtless exaggerated; but, like them, it
has truth for its foundation. There is no disease which has
so often been put to the "rack," without the secret of its
cure being elicited. Rolling on from age to age, and gather-
ing in its course the accumulating wisdom of successive gene-
rations, Allopathy finds itself still unable to remedy the ache
of a nerve-twig! Whence this immobility? Why is it that
the art of curing diseases remains now where Hippocrates left
it two thousand years ago? "He used purgatives in great
variety, and administered them with great freedom; he pre-
scribed diuretics and sudorifics; he drew blood both by the
lancet and the scarificator; he applied cupping glasses; he
administered injections, and inserted issues; he made frequent
use of external applications, such as ointments, plasters,
liniments, &c."* What more does the physician of eighteen
hundred and forty-nine? Hippocrates knew little or nothing
of anatomy, physiology, botany, chemistry, materia medica.
What does not the physician of the present day know on all
these subjects? The question recurs with redoubled force,
why, with the aid of all this borrowed light, does the prac-
tice of medicine remain stationary amid universal progression ?
* Dr. Bostock's 'History of Medicine,' in the Cyclopædia of
Practical Medicine.'
TIC-DOULOUREUX.
231
We look in vain for an explanation in the history of other
sciences-they afford no parallel. Astronomy, geography,
mechanics, natural philosophy - the sister branches of the
medical art which we have just enumerated-all these,
though they may have been insignificant in their beginnings,
and obscure in their birth, yet have they, from age to age,
continually and steadily advanced, expanding into maturity,
and winning for themselves the lofty position we now see.
them occupy in the temple of learning. The secret lies in
this-that while those branches of knowledge are based upon
an accurate comprehension of natural laws, and from thence
derive an onward tendency as irresistible as the truth from
whence they spring, the science of medicine, as at present
constituted, involves no such law-has no foundation in cor-
rect principle—and, on that account, is as incapable of ad-
vancement, as a rootless tree is of growth.
The necessity for a natural and universal law of cure
is keenly felt by the most enlightened disciples of Allopathy,*
and nowhere is its absence more apparent, than in the ordi-
nary mode of treating tic-douloureux. Its history is the his-
tory of medicine uncertain, vacillating, fruitless: an un-
ending circle of experiments, leading to endless disappoint-
ment. It would be a task of more time than profit to enu-
merate all the remedies-from division of the nerve, down to
the hop-pillow-that have been essayed for the removal of this
disease. It is more interesting to know that the three reme-
dies most confidently used by the Allopathist are essentially
Homœopathic in their action: Arsenic, Belladonna, and
Stramonium.
If there is any one disease, on the treatment of which
Homœopathy would be content to rest its claim to superiority
over the old system, that one is tic-douloureux. Nowhere is
Things have arrived at such a pitch, that they cannot be worse.
They must mend or end!!" (Dr. Forbes, British and Foreign Medical
Review,' Article, "Old Physic and Young Physic.”)
232
TIC-DOULOUREUX.
the practical advantage resulting from the guidance of a per-
manent and recognised law more strikingly manifested, be-
cause, nowhere is it more successfully applied. So rich is
Hahnemann's Materia Medica in remedies for this disease,
that, judging from my own experience, I question whether the
most confirmed cases may not be greatly mitigated, if not
entirely cured, by the steady employment of those remedies.
In more recent cases, and those of an inflammatory and
rheumatic character, their efficacy is often truly magical.
CASE I.—Mrs. A-, aged 25 years. Plump, and generally
healthy.
November 16th, 1846.—Has been suffering from the preseut attack
three months, during the whole of which period she has been under
medical treatment. It seized her an hour after her confinement, and the
gentleman who attended her had her under care a month. Failing to
get relief, she subsequently consulted three other medical men, but with
no better success. All sorts of remedial devices were tried-she had
two teeth extracted; blisters were applied to the cheek, and behind the
ear; blood was repeatedly drawn by leeches; mustard poultices, lini-
ments, and fomentations, were brought into requisition; besides
creosote, camphor, and laudanum, as applications to the gums, teeth,
and ear; and internal remedies were administered in corresponding
quantity and diversity. Having attended her some years ago, she is
induced, almost in despair, to come a considerable distance to seek my
advice. She describes the pain as being of a tearing, piercing kind,
occupying the right side of the face and head, affecting the ear, jaws,
teeth, and cheek-bone. She gets short intervals of ease, after which
the pain returns with redoubled violence. The gums are inflamed;
the face puffed; the teeth tender. Her health is bad; she is weak,
feverish, and thirsty; has a foul tongue, and no appetite.
Take Aconite 6th, and Mercurius 6th, alternately, every four hours.
17th. The constitutional fever, and inflammation of the gums much
abated. She can now, for the first time during her illness, close the
teeth with tolerable ease.
Take Mercurius 6th, every four hours.
19th. The pain ceased at seven o'clock yesterday evening, and has
TIC-DOULOUREUX.
233
been felt but slightly since. Slept well for the first time these eleven
weeks.
Continue the medicine, every six hours.
20th.-Have been some pains felt at long intervals, particularly in
the ear. They are, however, so trifling, in comparison with what she
before suffered, that she "does not mind them."
Phosphorus 6th, a dose every six hours.
23d. Has felt a slight pain the last three evenings, from seven till
nine o'clock.
Cinchona 3d, every eight hours.
28th.-Has had no pain the last three days; is altogether much im-
proved in health.
A few doses of Sulphur. Cured.
CASE II.-F. R-, aged 29 years. Dark complexion, weakly
constitution.
November 24th, 1846.-Ten days ago had a cold, for which he laid
in bed, and took some medicine; got better, and resumed his business.
On Sunday morning (this being Tuesday), he was seized with dis-
tracting pain in the left ear, from whence it extended up the face to
the temple, and across to the eye. It still continues unabated, with
violent fits of exacerbation. The whole side of the face is hot, tense,
and exquisitely tender to the touch, especially in and about the ear,
where, also, there is a strong pulsation. He is distressingly pros-
trated in strength, being as powerless as an infant; he is propped up in
bed; his head thickly enveloped in flannels; his voice, naturally full
and powerful, is weak and puerile; and he utters constantly a low whine
or moan; exhaustion and sleeplessness have rendered him lethargic
and heavy, and he is distressed by light and noise; his pulse is rapid and
jerking; tongue dry and coated; and he is very thirsty. Directly he
was taken ill he sent for a medical gentleman, who has attended him
up to this time. He has been rather violently purged; is at present
taking powders and a mixture, which cause him to perspire; he is
also using an embrocation to the face and throat, and occasional
fomentations.
Take two doses of Aconite; then Belladonna 3d, every four hours.
25th-Fever, thirst, and heat abated; slight remission of the pain;
still terribly exhausted; no sleep.
234
TIC-DOULOUREUX.
Take four doses of Arsenicum 6th, one every hour; then
Phosphorus 3d, every two hours.
26th.-An hour after the first dose of medicine the pain became
lulled (especially in the temple), and he fell into a sound sleep; he now
has occasional pains, of a subdued character, in the ear, and angle of
the jaw. He has taken some nourishment; his voice has recovered its
tone; and he is altogether another creature. Is still weak, and per-
spires in his sleep.
Continue Phosphorus; and take Mercurius 12th, at bedtime.
27th.-Entirely free from pain: much restored in strength and
spirits; sat up an hour yesterday evening, and intends doing so to-
day.
From this time his recovery was rapid. (He had Mercurius and
Sulphur, and, after a few days, went into the country.
CASE III.-Miss C. O-, aged 26 years. Pale and rather
delicate.
Has
July 31st, 1847.-Has been a martyr to faceache for years.
had seven or eight teeth drawn, and submitted to a great deal of medi-
cal treatment, without gaining any permanent relief. The present at-
tack (the most severe she has ever had), has tormented her a fortnight.
She gets short intervals of ease from the free use of laudanum, in-
wardly, and locally applied. Until yesterday the pain was on the right.
side; the left is now affected; it extends from the ear under the chin,
to the teeth and gums, which are inflamed and swollen, causing a
copious flow of saliva, and entirely preventing mastication. The pain is
of a (6
darting and dashing kind," and is worse of an evening, and in-
creased by the warmth of bed.
Take Mercurius 6th, every six hours.
August 2d.—After the second dose of medicine she began to get
ease, and in the evening was nearly free from pain. It has been gra-
dually subsiding ever since, and at the present time there is scarcely a
trace of it left. Her mouth was so much better yesterday as to admit
of her eating a meat dinner, whereas, for a fortnight previously she
could hardly speak, on account of the pain.
Continue the medicine, three times a day.
4th.-Has had twinges of pain flying about the face at times, lasting
for a minute, and then subsiding.
Take Platina 12th, twice a day.
TIC-DOULOUREUX.
235
6th. No pain whatever: appetite good, feels stronger, and is other-
wise perfectly well.
CASE IV.-E. H-, aged 34 years.
March 26th, 1847.-Has been afflicted with this attack two months.
The pain occupies the entire left side of the face and head; implicating
the ear, teeth, and gums, and extending to the neck and shoulder. It
was at first worse in the night; lately it has been constant; it is aggra-
vated by taking warm things; and is easier in the air. She has applied
a blister behind the ear, and used laudanum in several ways.
Take Mezereum 12th, every four hours.
29th. The disease entirely gone, with the exception of a little tender-
ness on closing the teeth.
Mercurius 12th, twice a day. Cured.
CASE V.-Miss R—, aged 26 years.
March 22d, 1847. Has been suffering between three and four
months from an agonizing pain in the left side of the face. She gets
intervals of ease, during which she is able to attend to business; but in
the warmth of bed, in the cold air, and after food, the pain is increased
to such an agonizing degree as almost to drive her mad. She is then
forced to lie on a sofa, or pace the room, with hot things applied to the
face, to mitigate the pain. It occupies the lower jaw principally. She
has been under the care of a physician, who has prescribed a variety of
remedies, without affording the slightest ease. He told her he could
mitigate, but not cure, her malady.
She had, first of all, Mercurius; then Arsenicum, in alternation with
it; and got complete ease in the course of three days.
About twelve months after this period (having left the neighbour-
hood), she had another attack, and consulted a medical gentleman of
the old school. He attended her a fortnight, but failing to make any
impression on the disease, she was induced to send to me for a packet
of the same powders she had a year before. I sent a dozen Mercurius.
She got complete ease in twenty-four hours, and has been perfectly well.
ever since.
236
TIC-DOULOUREUX.
CASE VI.-Mrs. W—, aged 27 years.
March 27th, 1847.-Has been afflicted a fortnight. The attack comes
on every morning at seven o'clock, and lasts three or four hours.
It occupies the right temple, the eye, eyebrow, and cheek bone; and
is of a tearing kind, and exceedingly agonizing at times. She has
some decayed teeth, but the pain does not appear to be connected
with them. The face is exquisitely tender to the touch when the pain
is on.
Take Cinchona 3d, every two hours.
23d. This morning the pain is much mitigated.
24th.-Hardly any remains of the pain. Feels "quite different."
Continue, for a day or two longer. Cured.
FEVER.
THE reader will have observed in the foregoing pages, that
in the description of almost every disease, fever is mentioned
as forming a prominent feature. It is an attendant, in a
greater or lesser degree, upon every inflammatory disorder:
its intensity being generally in proportion to the urgency of
the attack, and the importance of the organ affected. Thus,
in inflammation of the brain, lungs, liver, &c., we have more
fever than in the same condition of less important parts.
There is this grand distinction to be drawn between fever of
this kind, and that of which we are about to speak, viz.,-
that the former is produced by the local disease, is kept alive
by its continuance, and disappears as it subsides—it is thus
a symptom of another disease, and hence is denominated
symptomatic fever; while the latter, originating, as most medi-
cal men believe, in no local disorder, but having its own
peculiar symptoms, and running an independent course, is
regarded as a distinct disease, and hence is called, by way of
pre-eminence—FEVER.
The disease divides itself naturally into two great families
-the intermittent, and the continued. The former is fur-
ther subdivided into quotidian, tertian, and quartan, consti-
tuting the three types of ague. The latter is variously ar-
ranged by different authors, under different heads; such as
common, inflammatory, gastric, bilious, nervous, typhus fever,
&c. These are arbitrary distinctions, employed in books for
the convenience of description. Practically they are unim-
portant. The symptoms distinguishing the different classes,
are often so commingled as to render it impossible to separate
them, and say under which head any particular case should be
238
FEVER.
placed. We will, therefore, not attempt to draw on paper a
line of demarcation which is but indistinctly defined by nature.
There is no theoretical question in medicine more obscure
than the nature of fever, nor a practical one surrounded by
greater diversity of opinion, than that of its treatment. To
the Allopathist this must ever be the case. His treatment
of a disease is regulated by the notion he may entertain of
its nature. The one being unfathomable, the other cannot
but be uncertain and unstable. Thus, Dr. Clutterbuck, and
those who agree with him, observing in most cases of fever a
good deal of head affection, believe it to consist essentially
in inflammation of the brain, and employ such measures as
they deem best calculated to relieve that condition-those
measures being comprised, principally, in the different forms
of bloodletting. Others, again, disciples of the French phy-
sician, Broussais (whose opinions prevail extensively in this
country), finding in many cases of fever unequivocal signs of
mischief in the bowels, regard it as originating in disease of
those organs.
These, disregarding the head, direct their
attention, almost exclusively, to the removal of what they
consider to be the cause of the disorder, and accordingly apply
leeches by tens, twenties and fifties, to the abdomen.
To the Homœopathist the hidden source of a disease,
though doubtless a subject of deep philosophical interest, is
not a question which influences him materially in his practice.
Nature having vouchsafed to him the light which the symp-
toms throw upon the internal operations of the disease, he
deems it safer to walk by this light, than to be continually
hunting after that, which, no doubt for wise purposes, has
hitherto been kept from his view. So, in his treatment of
fever--uninfluenced by his inability to fathom the occult
moving powers of the disease, but studying carefully all the
symptoms-awarding to each its own weight, and attaching
to no particular one an exclusive degree of importance-he
selects such remedies as are calculated to include the whole
circle of symptoms within its sphere of action. The result is
FEVER.
239
that his treatment ensures an amount of success, such as is
sighed for in vain by those who direct all their attention to
one particular organ, or class of symptoms, and entirely over-
look, or take but little account of, the rest. The Allopathist
treats a symptom-the Homœopathist all the symptoms-the
disease.
A minute examination of the multifarious plans of treatment
adopted by the Allopathists, would be an endless and useless
undertaking. There is, however, one practical observation
connected with this subject, of too much importance to be
passed over in silence. I allude to the pernicious custom
which prevails so generally, of giving purgative medicines in
fevers. Some adopt it to a very great extent. Dr. Elliotson,
for instance, insists upon the bowels being purged two or three
times every day, and to effect this, advises the administration
of five, ten, or fifteen-grain doses of calomel, followed by
castor-oil or senna, and this action is to be kept up from day
to day. Many medical men do nothing more than give saline
aperients. Others, and perhaps the majority, use them more
sparingly.
When we consider that in almost all fevers, if there be not
absolutely inflammation of the lining membrane of the
bowels, at least a strong tendency to it exists: that one of
the most troublesome symptoms is relaxation, arising from
this inflammatory condition: and that we comparatively rarely
see a fatal case of fever, where death may not be attributed
mainly to the exhausting effects of incurable diarrhoea, we
cannot but believe that the use of purgative medicines, whose
action, alone, is sufficient to induce this very state of things,
is in the highest degree objectionable, and ought in every case
to be avoided. This view of the matter, founded upon the
dictates of common sense, is fully borne out by experience.
In all the cases of fever which I have attended Homœopa-
thically (and they have been numerous), I have found the
patient's greatest safety to depend on keeping the bowels un-
irritated and undisturbed. It frequently happens that the
240
FEVER.
bowels are not moved for the space of a week or ten days-
not, indeed, until the fever subsides. The patient begins to
take nourishment, and the bowels, regaining, with the rest of
system, their functional power, act spontaneously. In the
mean time, generally speaking, there is neither ache, nor pain,
nor any other sign of disease, in those organs. They are
simply quiescent, and that because, the patient taking no food,
they have no duty to perform. Where, under these circum-
stances, is the justification for interfering with their function?
Dr. Elliotson says, with more force than elegance, that we
should see (C
that no filth collects in them." To this we reply,
by asking, whether it be not the proper office of the bowels to
contain “filth ?" and by suggesting, that the natural and
proper contents of the bowels are no more filthy to them, than
the blood is to the heart, or the air to the lungs. We should,
in fact, exercise as much sagacity in clearing these latter
organs of their "filth," as we do when we administer aperients
to perform that office for the alimentary canal!
There is a general impression, founded upon the negative
results of Allopathic treatment, that fever, when once estab-
lished, will, in spite of all the efforts that may be made to
arrest it, run a fixed and predetermined course. Hence it has
come to be regarded as the duty of the medical man to act the
part of a watchman, only, over the disease. That this is the
safest course the Allopathist, in the majority of cases, can
pursue, is unquestionable. It is equally unquestionable
that the Homoeopathist, in following his example, would be
guilty of the grossest negligence. In the worst class of cases
-the typhoid-if he cannot arrest the disease, he can render
it comparatively harmless and safe, by meeting those concur-
rent symptoms on which its chief danger depends; and in the
milder and simpler forms, he may either at once put a stop to
the disease, or, failing in that, may conduct it through its
different stages in a much shorter space of time than it would
otherwise occupy.
As these are the most important points in treating fever,
FEVER.
241
the following cases are devoted exclusively to their illus-
tration.
CASE I.—B. G—, aged 20 years. Tall, thin, and delicate.
May 17th, 1847.-Was seized three days ago with violent headache,
and pains in his back and loins, which compelled him to leave his work.
These symptoms remain, and in addition, he has now intense thirst;
alternating heats and chills; a rapid, small pulse; loss of appetite ;
foul, dry tongue; restlessness, and absence of sleep. Has taken aperient
medicine, without any benefit.
Aconite 6th, every four hours.
a
18th.-Greatly relieved he was scarcely at all thirsty yesterday
after taking the medicine. Slept soundly all night; his tongue is
moist; skin cool; head getting easy: he even feels a slight longing
for food. Some aching pain in his back is all the remains of his
disease.
Continue the medicine, three times a day.
He required no more, and resumed his occupation two or three
days after.
CASE II.-Mrs. E. W—, aged 42 years. Has been ill
twenty-four hours.
October 12th, 1847.-Has heats and chills; intense headache; short,
quick breathing; rapid pulse (130); dry and burning skin; parching
thirst; white, coated, and cracked tongue; aching pains in every linıb.
She sighs, and moans, and is very restless.
Take Aconite 6th, every four hours.
14th.-Fever fully established, and running very high; her pulse is
hard, but beating twenty strokes less in the minute than on the 12th.
There is agonizing pain in the head; intolerance of light; her limbs
and back ache terribly. She is very thirsty, and her tongue gets dry
continually.
To go on with the Aconite a few hours longer; and then
take Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
15th. This morning she broke into a nice perspiration, and since
then has been amazingly relieved, especially in the head. Her pulse is
still rapid.
Continue the Belladonna.
11
242
FEVER.
17th.-Seized yesterday afternoon with a sharp pain in the left side of
the chest, greatly increased when she coughs. She feels tight in the
chest, is thirsty, has more headache.
Take Bryonia 3d, every four hours.
18th. Considerably better: she can breathe, cough, and move more
freely. There is also less fever, thirst, and headache.
Continue the Bryonia.
20th.-Doing exceedingly well. Pain gone; skin cool; no thirst;
pulse nearly natural; and the tongue getting clean.
Take Pulsatilla 12th, twice a day.
24th.-Convalescent.
CASE III. Mr. E-, aged 36 years.
September 12th, 1847.-Has been poorly some days, with loss of
appetite, nausea, and other dyspeptic symptoms. To relieve these he
took pills, two or three times, with no good effect. He is now very
thirsty, and has severe headache, with languor; general pains; nausea,
and disgust of food; a foul, white tongue. The skin, at times hot, is
not generally much above the healthy standard. The pit of the stomach
and abdomen, tender and distended.
Take Bryonia 12th, every four hours.
13th.-Much less heat and thirst: had a better night, but his head
still aches, and his stomach is uneasy.
Nux Vomica 12th, every six hours.
14th.-Better in most respects; but the bowels have become consi-
derably relaxed.
Take Chamomilla 3d, every four hours.
15th. The relaxation has increased, with griping and some straining.
In other respects he is better.
Take Arsenicum 12th, every four hours.
16th. The diarrhoea ceased with the first dose of medicine.
Continue it every six hours.
18th and 20th.-Progressing favorably.
Rhus 12th, twice a day.
23d.-Sitting up, dressed, and enjoying food.
ཅ་
FEVER.
243
CASE IV.-Miss R-, aged 22 years. Pale and delicate.
September 16th, 1847.-Has been ill of typhus fever three weeks at
Islington, where she was attended by a medical gentleman of the old
school, but continuing to get worse, she was yesterday removed to her
sister's home, and came under my care.
She is now so ill as to induce me to give a very qualified opinion as to
her ultimate recovery. She has been taking a good deal of opening
medicine. There is extreme prostration of strength; she sinks low down
in the bed, on her back; her breathing is so short and rapid, that she
cannot articulate the shortest sentence without stopping two or three
times to gasp for breath. Her pulse is very rapid (140) and faltering;
skin hot; she is intensely thirsty; her tongue is coated, dry, and
cracked. There is trembling of the limbs; tenderness in the pit of the
stomach, and over the whole of the abdomen. The bowels are much
relaxed; everything runs through her as she swallows it. She is deli-
rious in the night, and gets little or no sleep.
Take Aconite 12th, and Arsenicum 12th, alternately, every four
hours.
17th.—Great amendment already. Many of the worst symptoms are
entirely removed, and the others are much mitigated.
Continue the arsenicum. Aconite at long intervals.
18th.-Amendment still rapid; diarrhoea and abdominal tenderness
disappeared. Her pulse is 100, soft, and round; her skin cool; tongue
moist and cleaning; slight thirst; sleeps well. To-day, for the first
time, has enjoyed a little light nourishment.
Take Rhus, three times a day.
20th. She sat up three hours yesterday; enjoys food, and is quite
convalescent.
CASE V.-James G-, aged 53 years.
October 8th, 1847.-He has been getting worse since he was first
seized, a week ago. Was yesterday so ill he could not go out. His
present symptoms are, heats and chills whenever he moves; pains in his
back and limbs; headache; much thirst; no appetite; hot skin; rapid
pulse; foul, white, dry tongue; short, hacking cough; quick breathing;
tenderness in the bowels, probably owing to the operation of an ounce
244
FEVER.
7
of castor-oil, and two doses of pills, which he took of his own
accord.
Take Aconite 6th, every four hours.
9th. No better. Head aches intensely, and is very hot.
Belladonna 6th, every four hours.
11th.-Much improvement: not half so much fever; some thirst and
partial headache. No pain in the abdomen.
Take Bryonia 12th, three times a day.
13th.-No fever or thirst; and but very little headache. Has a good
appetite. Cured.
CASE VI.-E. C-, a young lady, aged 22 years. Has
been languid and poorly some time. In decided fever three
days.
July 17th, 1848.-Intense headache, thirst, hot skin, rapid pulse, dry
tongue, flushed face, aching limbs, delirium.
Aconite and Belladonna, alternately, every four hours.
18th.-Head relieved: fever otherwise running high.
Continue the medicines.
19th.-Fever less. Bowels violently relaxed, and vomiting.
Ipecacuanha, directly; then Arsenicum, every three hours.
20th.-Very great amendment: fever all but gone; head comfortable;
bowels quiet, till this afternoon, when they have been relaxed three
times. Slept soundly last night. Very weak.
Rhus 12th, three times a day.
22d and 24th.-No fever. Convalescent.
SPITTING OF BLOOD, AND CONSUMPTION.
SPITTING of blood, generally assigned a separate place in
medical works, is only a symptom of other diseased conditions:
congestion of the lungs ; transitory inflammations of the chest;
lesions of the mouth and throat, &c.
It is in connection with consumption that spitting of blood is
most frequently observed. There are, indeed comparatively
few cases of that disease in which, sooner or later, it does not
manifest itself.
Phthisis, consumption, decline, or by whatever term the
degeneration and ultimate decay of the lungs is expressed,
is a disease which has always engrossed the deepest attention
of medical men. Their investigations have naturally been
directed to two leading objects-first to ascertain the intimate
nature of the disease, and the circumstances which regulate its
progress-and secondly, to deduce from thence proper rules
of treatment.
Passing by the former of these questions as not coming
within the purely practical scope of this volume, we will
devote a few moments' consideration to the latter, as inte-
resting us more nearly, and as being more easily within our
reach.
Before proceeding further, I wish to disclaim, as far as I
am personally concerned, all participation in the canting pro-
fessions which some persons make of being able to cure con-
sumption. Such professions can only originate in one of two
sources-ignorance, or knavery. In ignorance-inasmuch as
any one, totally unacquainted with medicine, may be supposed
not to know that consumption is incurable. Attempting,
under such circumstances, to perform an impossibility, no one
can mistake the proper position of such a man. In knavery-
inasmuch as the man who, knowing, as every medical man
246
SPITTING OF BLOOD,
must know, that genuine consumption is notoriously incurable,
shall yet attempt to persuade the public that he possesses the
wand whose magic touch shall stay its progress, can be in-
fluenced by no higher motive than a desire to impose upon
his patients for his own advantage. With anything so base
and unholy, Homoeopathy holds no fellowship. A cure for
consumption is a boon which has hitherto been withheld
from our race, and should it ever be bestowed, we are bound
to believe that some purer medium for its communication will
be selected, than is to be found among these greedy worship-
pers of Mammon.
Leaving the future to the disposal of her own designs, it is
certain that as far as the cure of consumption is concerned,
the past presents nothing but a blank. Nor can this excite
our astonishment; for when we consider the peculiar structure
and function of the lungs-their spongy texture and unceasing
motion-and bear in mind their condition in the progress of
decline, it certainly does appear to approach very near to a
physical impossibility, that under such circumstances they
should ever be restored. But though unable to attain to the
higher prerogative of cure, we are not, therefore, doomed to an
impotent inactivity. The scarcely less important work of pre-
vention and retardation invites our exertion. Here Allopathy
and Homœopathy come again fairly into competition, and it is
to their respective capabilities that we wish now briefly to
direct the reader's attention.
In order fully to appreciate their differences, it is necessary
to bear in mind two things.
First-that consumption, in all its stages, is an inflam-
matory disease: and secondly-that notwithstanding this in-
flammatory condition, it is as undeniably a disease of general
debility.
With these two propositions before us, we are in a position
to understand the embarrassing situation of the Allopathic
practitioner, when called upon to treat a patient labouring
under either the premonitory or more advanced symptoms of
AND CONSUMPTION.
247
consumption. He finds himself, (to speak somewhat figura-
tively,) face to face with a patient, who presents to him on the
one side, the flushed cheek of inflammation, to relieve which,
(if true to his principles,) he must in some way or other with-
draw blood: and on the other side, the pallid cheek of exhaus-
tion, which imperatively forbids the use of any debilitating
remedy. The alternatives are, death according to nature, and
death secundem artem.
That an assertion so startling, but at the same time so true,
may lose none of its weight, by resting solely on my unsup-
ported authority, let us hear what Dr. Law, of Dublin, says on
the subject in his article, in the Cyclopædia of Practical
Medicine. "We would only observe, that the causes which
call a tuberculous diathesis (consumptive tendency,) into ope-
ration, are such as have the effect, either directly or indirectly,
of debilitating the energies of the constitution; and that,
therefore, though hemoptysis (spitting of blood) be a compli-
cation with which we cannot tamper, but which we must meet
with decision, we cannot but regret the dilemma in which
we are placed, by a symptom requiring a mode of treat-
ment, which we have reason to apprehend may have the
effect of increasing that condition of the system which has
given rise to the original disease." This, expressed in rather
a roundabout and mystified manner, put into plain language,
amounts to the declaration, that in treating spitting of blood
"with decision," (by which is meant bleeding, &c.,) we go the
proper way to increase the disease on which that symptom
depends! This is certainly a curiously inverted mode of cure ;
and was it not too notorious, that in expressing his own
opinion, Dr. Law does but echo that of all his brethren, we
might have attributed it to the well-known influence of
Hibernian air in originating a curiously inverted mode of
reasoning on matters in general.
What, after this, does the reader suppose is the plan of
treatment usually adopted in these cases. Surely, he exclaims,
they do not bleed! Let us see. This is Dr. Elliotson's advice.
218
SPITTING OF BLOOD,
“On the immediate occurrence of hemorrhage (bleeding)
from the lungs, it is right to treat it as inflammation; to bleed
in the arm freely."
Dr. Law (whom we have just quoted) says-" In an attack
of active hemoptysis, general bleeding, proportionate to the
vascular orgasm, and to the strength of the individual, must be
employed."
Dr. Copeland, in his Dictionary of Medicine, remarks—“ If
the patient be robust or young, if he have not suffered long
from pulmonary disease, and if the hemorrhage has not been
very great, bloodletting ought to be immediately performed in
the arm, from a large orifice, until an impression is made on
the system, or faintness ensue."
We might quote the same opinion, varied only in expres-
sion, till the list of writers was exhausted; the practice, in
short, is universal. If it be a first attack, the bleeding is
plentiful—if it occur subsequently and repeatedly, as it often
does in the course of consumption, then the bleeding is more
moderate, and is performed by the cupping-glass and the
leech, instead of the lancet-but however employed, and to
whatever extent, the tendency is still the same; it debilitates
the patient, and so hurries on the fatal catastrophe it is
intended to avert. We have hitherto omitted to mention
blisters, antimony ointment, embrocations, &c., which are
applied to the chest, and which, by their painful action, still
further exhaust the patient. Such is, in part only, the
Allopathic mode of treating spitting of blood and consump-
tion.
Let us now examine how Homœopathy deals with these
cases.
Consulted in the first dawn of the disease, she can either
entirely arrest its progress, or keep it at bay for an unlimited
time; and at a later period, when it has attained a firmer
hold, and a cure becomes hopeless, she can check its advance,
and by the removal of those distressing symptoms which
surround the disease, and constitute the patient's severest
AND CONSUMPTION.
249
trials, can assuage his sufferings, and smooth his passage to the
grave. The symptoms here alluded to, are, the local pain in
the chest, and constant harassing cough; the fever, thirst, and
exhausting perspiration; the vomiting, loss of appetite, and
wasting diarrhoea. A few words will explain how this good is
effected.
The reader has already learned that Homœopathy cures
inflammation of the lungs without drawing one drop of blood,
or employing any of those other painful means on which
Allopathy relies. The remedies which accomplish this object.
are equally available in treating the inflammation which
attends upon consumption. Checking this inflammation, we
allay the cough which it originates, prevent the hectic which
consumes the patient's frame, and at the same time ward off
the draining night-sweat, which is its natural outlet. For
the vomiting, loss of appetite, and diarrhoea, when they are
the products of disease, Homoeopathy finds prompt relief in
the use of appropriate remedies; and to prevent them, when,
as more frequently happens, they result solely from the
administration of large quantities of nauseous and irritating
medicines, no other precaution is required than that which
Homœopathy habitually adopts, of giving her medicines in
small and tasteless doses.
That nothing has been here advanced which experience
does not warrant, let the following cases bear witness. The
first relates to spitting of blood, unconnected with consump-
tion. This is followed by others clearly of a consumptive
character. On account of the protracted nature of the
disease, as well as for other obvious reasons, they are given
in a condensed form, and without initials. In all of them
we trace the benign influence of Homœopathic treatment-
in some instances entirely arresting the disease; in others
retarding its progress; and in the worst cases moderating
the symptoms, mitigating the patient's sufferings, and so
stripping the disease of all that renders it terrible, except its
fatality.
11 §
250
SPITTING OF BLOOD,
CASE I.-E. W. R-, aged 20 years. Generally in the en-
joyment of remarkably good health, and at the present time.
looking florid and robust.
February 13th, 1847. Whilst walking rather briskly, about two
hours ago, was seized with sudden and profuse irruption of blood from
the chest. It occurred during a fit of coughing, which it prolonged,
almost incessantly ejecting large quantities of blood and froth. Though
a good deal depressed, his pulse is still irritable, quick, and hard.
He continues to spit up the same mixture of blood and phlegm ;
his breathing is oppressed; he has a little pain under the right breast:
just at that spot there is distinct crepitation, and some dulness on
percussion.
Take Aconite 6th, every two hours.
14th. He feels a great deal better. He still continues to spit up
dark, coagulated blood, and muco-purulent stuff, the remains of yester-
day's irruption. His cough is troublesome.
Continue the Aconite, with Bryonia in alternation.
15th.-Improving.
Phosphorus 6th, three times a day.
From this time his recovery was rapid. He went to business on
the 22d, but, having a little suspicious cough remaining, he was
advised to go into the country. After a month's absence he returned,
looking as hearty and robust as usual, and has continued so ever
since.
CASE II-A dark, large-built man, aged 35 years.
February, 1847.-Has been wasting in flesh, and getting weak for
some time past. He had a cold in the first instance, and has ever
since been troubled with a severe cough. This morning he spat up a
considerable quantity of fresh blood. His pulse is quick and small;
breathing short; skin cool; no particular thirst. He has a pain
through the chest, under the left collar-bone. The breathing sounds
are imperfect and dull in that spot.
He took a few doses of Aconite; Phosphoric Acid; and Carbo
Vegetabilis.
The spitting of blood ceased; the cough gradually subsided. His
AND CONSUMPTION.
251
general health improved rapidly, and at the end of three weeks he felt
perfectly well, and has remained so up to this time.
CASE III.—A young, single woman, aged 19 years.
October, 1848.-Has been ill five months; nearly the whole of the
period under medical treatment. She has all the symptoms of con-
sumption—wasting; great debility; chilliness in the afternoon, suc-
ceeded by heat, thirst, and flushed face; loss of appetite, hot skin;
small, quick pulse; night-sweats; a pain through the chest, on the
left side, under the collar-bone, extending to the back; a hard, distress-
ing cough, with yellow expectoration; inability to lie on the affected
side. Auscultation detects distinct crepitation in the seat of disease,
dulness on percussion, and bronchophony. She has taken a good deal of
opening medicine. The bowels are much relaxed, and the abdomen very
tender.
She took Arsenicum, Mercurius, Phosphoric Acid, and Carbo
Vegetabilis.
The action of these medicines was most striking and gratifying. At
the end of a month she considered herself, and really appeared to be,
quite well. All the above symptoms had vanished: she had regained
her strength and spirits, and resumed her usual occupation. There
was still a slight cough, and the sounds of the chest, though not
healthy, had greatly improved. At this time she was forced to re-
move to a distance; I am, therefore, unacquainted with her subsequent
history.
CASE IV. A young woman, aged 20 years. Always
delicate.
September, 1848.-Has been troubled with a slight cough, and losing
flesh for some time past. Has now been confined to bed three weeks.
Has had no regular advice. The system is in a state of high excite-
ment-general ebullition. She is exceedingly exhausted; cannot sit up
in bed a moment without fainting. She is feverish, thirsty; has head-
ache; rapid breathing; short, hacking cough; has a pain on the left.
side, passing through the chest, under the collar-bone, and preventing
her resting on that side. There is distinct mucous râle in the upper
and posterior portion of the right lung, with bronchophony; loud
252
SPITTING OF BLOOD,
breathing in the left. She gets particularly hot and flushed in the
evening, and perspires profusely towards the morning.
Looking at the case in all its bearings, I did not feel justified in
holding out the least hope of her recovering sufficiently to leave her bed.
In this I was happily mistaken: not only has she left her bed, but for
months past has been in the enjoyment of tolerable health: so good as
to admit of her venturing out once or twice to visit me.
Under the action of Aconite, Arsenic, Phosphoric Acid, Carbo Vege-
tabilis, Kali, and some other medicines, varied according to symptoms,
she rallied rapidly; regained her appetite, and with it her strength.
She is now looking plump and well, and though there remains a cough,
with some unhealthy sounds in the chest, I am not without hopes of her
ultimate restoration.
CASE V. A young female, aged 17 years. Formerly
stout and plump, and still looking fat, though sallow in the
face.
October, 1848.-Has been labouring under symptoms of consumption
the last nine months; under treatment the whole time, and pronounced,
by the last two gentlemen who attended her, incapable of surviving this
autumn. The last remedy she took was cod-liver-oil, from which she
seemed at first to derive some benefit, but latterly it has lost its effect.
She has now all the signs of confirmed consumption, viz. :—wasting;
small, quick pulse; loss of appetite; thirst; evening exacerbations ;
night-sweats; rapid breathing; and shortness of breath. A good deal
of pain in the left side of the chest; a hard, distressing cough, with ex-
pectoration of yellow matter; distinct gurgling in the sub-clavicular and
scapular regions, with bronchophony, and dulness on percussion. The
breathing in the right lung preternaturally loud. She has for some
time past been unable to attend to her business, which is of an un-
healthy character.
She had Phosphoric Acid, Carbo Vegetabilis, Lycopodiumı, Kali,
and Calcarea.
Her amendment commenced with the treatment: was so considerable
as to enable her to resume her occupation, and continue it up to this
time. There are still unequivocal signs of disease in the lung. Thus
far it has been arrested: she enjoys comparative case and comfort;
and with care, and the persevering use of remedies, it is impossible to
say to what extent this favorable state of things may be prolonged.
AND CONSUMPTION.
253
CASE VI. A married woman, aged about 30 years.
Spare, delicate, small features. Of a consumptive family.
January, 1848.-Two months ago had inflammation of the right lung.
Was bled, leeched, blistered, &c. As too often happens in cases of this
kind, occurring in delicate persons, these measures produced great
weakness, but failed to subdue the disease. Tonics and stimulants
were resorted to, to "get up the strength." The effect has been to
perpetuate the disease in a sub-acute form, and the result, the develop-
ment of consumption. She bas all along being harassed by a cough: a
month ago spat up a considerable quantity of blood, and has continued
to do so ever since. She is now feverish, hot, and thirsty; exceedingly
weak; gets flushed in the evening; perspires at night; loses flesh
rapidly. Complains of a sharp pain in the right side of the chest, in
breathing and coughing. Auscultation confirms the opinion one would
form from the foregoing symptoms: there is a cavity in the right lung,
a little below the collar-bone, the sounds indicating this being most dis-
tinctly heard at the back.
Taking away all stimulants, and restricting her for a short time to
milk diet, I gave also Aconite and Phosphorus. She found relief within
the first twenty-four hours. Continuing these medicines a few days,
all active inflammation was completely removed. The thirst, fever, and
hectic vanished; her appetite returned; the spitting of blood ceased;
the cough became easier; the expectoration less copious. Pursuing
the treatment with Lycopodium, Kali Carbonicum, and some other
medicines, she was soon sufficiently restored to get about and attend
to her household affairs, and up to the present time has not failed to
visit me (generally walking a distance of a mile and a half for the pur-
pose), once a month.
She has never lost her cough; has two or three times had slight re-
turns of spitting of blood, and there are still unequivocal signs of the
disease in the lungs, from which she can never be rid; but it is
gratifying to believe, judging from the past, that with the persist-
ence of the same treatment, her life may be prolonged for an indefinite
period.
254
SPITTING OF BLOOD,
CASE VII.—A married woman, aged 26 years. Dark
complexion, formerly stout and florid.
February, 1847.-Her health has declined rapidly the last year. She
spat blood some time ago, and has now all the signs of confirmed con-
sumption. Has had much medical treatment, but derived only slight
benefit. She wastes rapidly; is short of breath; perspires profusely in
the night; constantly coughing, and expectorating thick, yellow matter.
Feverish, thirsty, and no appetite. There is a large cavity in the apex
of the right lung-gurgling, pectoriloquy. My first opinion was that
she would not survive many weeks. Her course, it is true, has, of
necessity, been gradually downwards; but the fact, that two years
have elapsed since the period to which I allude, sufficiently testifies to
the amazing power of Homoeopathic remedies, in retarding the disease.
Her symptoms have varied greatly in the interval—at one time better,
at another worse, now spitting blood, again relieved, and so on; but,
on the whole, so great has been the comfort derived from the medi-
cines, that she has never been able to go more than a week or ten days
without them. She walked the distance of a mile to visit me six weeks
ago; since then I have not heard of her.
CASE VIII.—A man, aged 39 years.
June 7th, 1848.-Ill two years. Eighteen months under medical
treatment. Splat blood two months ago; now in rapid decline. Short
breath; coughs yellow matter; is hoarse; wastes; perspires at night;
feverish; no appetite; diarrhoea; hectic. Upper part of the left lung
completely disorganized: much pain in that part.
He had Phosphoric Acid, Mercurius, Kali Carbon., Lachesis, &c.
From these medicines he derived immediate and great relief; so
much so, that he really began to flatter himself with the idea of a com-
plete restoration. His cough became less distressing; the pain ceased
from the chest; his appetite returned; his strength rallied; he could
lie on his left side, which he had not done for eight months previously.
In this way he went on for the space of about six weeks, when, from
particular circumstances, he was forced to leave my care. He died
about a month after.
AND CONSUMPTION.
255
November, 1850.-It is satisfactory to be able to state that
five out of the eight foregoing patients are still living; and
that in the majority of them, disease has made but little if
any progress since their cases were recorded in the first
edition of this volume, nearly two years ago.
INJURIES.
The profound and quaint JEAN PAUL RICHTER has
characterised Hahnemann, after his own manner, as
"that
double-headed prodigy of learning and philosophy, whose
system, though at first despised, was to drag to ruin the
common receipt- crammed-heads."
RICHTER'S prophecy is fast receiving its fulfilment.
There
is hardly a civilized country in the world, where, within
the last fifty years, Homœopathy has not reared its stan-
dard, and gathered around it a band of devoted adherents.
In Germany, after many struggles against all kinds of adver-
sity, it has been fully recognised; is now fostered and pro-
tected by government; and enjoys its hospitals, lectures, and
university examiners. In France, Austria, Russia, Prussia,
and Italy; in short, in every continental country-it has its
hosts of followers. In the new world it has been embraced
with all the ardour of a free and enthusiastic people; and
so rapid has been its progress, that in some parts of the
United States, the practice of medicine is said to be nearly
equally divided between the old and new systems. In our
own country, where, twenty-five years since, even the name of
Hahnemann was scarcely known, there are now between two
and three hundred legally qualified Homœopathic practi-
tioners, of whom sixty-five reside in the metropolis and its
suburbs. There are three Homœopathic hospitals in Eng-
land; one in London, constructed for 150 beds; one in
Manchester; and one at Doncaster. Besides these there are
nearly a hundred dispensaries distributed over the country,
at which poor patients are treated homoeopathically.
Thus much has Homœopathy already accomplished. Who,
contemplating this, can doubt that it is destined, at no very
INJURIES.
257
distant period, to "drag to ruin the system of receipt-
crammed-heads!"
These inroads have been made, principally, into the pro-
vince of medicine or the "practice of physic," regarded as a
separate branch of the healing art.
Its sister branch, surgery, though it has not so complete a
revolution to apprehend from the advent of Homœopathy, is
yet destined to feel its beneficial influence. Homoeopathy
does not pretend to abolish the use of the knife, the splint,
the roller, and a thousand other mechanical contrivances, for
the removal and rectification of accidental injuries; but this
it will do-it will render surgery far less formidable than it
has hitherto been, by controlling those accompanying symp-
toms on which the danger of operations mainly depends.
other cases, by curing, or rendering harmless, diseases which
now are considered as remediable only by the knife, it will
make a resort to such extreme measures less frequently
necessary.
In
Injuries may be classed under two heads. First-those in
which the mischief is of such a nature as to demand the
application of mechanical means for its cure-fractures, dis-
locations, lacerations, and hernia. Here the surgeon,
whether homoeopathic or allopathic, does not hesitate to
employ all those contrivances which the ingenuity of
others may have placed at his disposal. The other class
of cases is that in which the injury may be as great as in the
foregoing, but in which the same mode of treatment is not
admissible-sprains, bruises, and concussions. Homœopathy
here comes into play with admirable effect-it controls the
constitutional disturbance, and allays local inflammation in a
manner with which Allopathy has nothing to compare.
is
Foremost among those medicinal substances, by which this
accomplished, are Arnica, Rhus Toxicodendron, and
Calendula.
Let us now adduce a few examples of their beneficial
action.
258
INJURIES.
CASE I.-S. J-, aged 23 years. Yesterday, whilst out
riding, was thrown from his horse, and pitched upon his head
with great violence. He was taken up insensible, and carried
to a friend's house, where he was visited by a medical gentle-
man, who applied lotions to the head, prescribed an aperient
draught, and advised the application of leeches.
After a
short time he rallied, and remained tolerably sensible up to
this morning, when he was brought home.
September 19, 1847.-Evening: he is in bed, having become much
worse since morning, and has fallen into a state of stupor, or half in-
sensibility. It is with difficulty he can be roused sufficiently to re-
cognise any one, or answer a question. His pulse is slow and labour-
ing, at times almost intermittent. His skin is warm, the head not
particularly hot, the pupils act sluggishly. He vomited in the forenoon.
There is a lump about the size of a small egg on the back part of the
head, but no outward wound of the scalp.
Take Arnica 6th, every three hours.
21st.-More easily aroused, and answers questions more distinctly.
His skin is hotter. Complains of headache.
Take two doses of Aconite; then Arnica again, and apply Arnica
Lotion to the bruise.
22d. He is quite sensible this morning; wakeful; talks almost as
usual; complains of headache, especially in the forehead, the skin of
which has become discolourcd, and is very hot. The pulse has rallied,
and is more free and natural; the pupils contract closely.
Belladonna 3d, every four hours.
In the evening.—Still better; his head being much relieved of pain.
He is laughing and joking about his accident.
23d. He is up and dressed; has quite recovered his mental activity,
but still feels a good deal of pain over the eyes, which is aggravated
by looking at the light.
Belladonna 12th, three times a day.
His restoration was rapid and uninterrupted. He applied Arnica
Lotion to the scalp; and took inwardly, Arnica, Belladonna, and
Sulphur, for the removal of some lingering tenderness in the brain.
INJURIES.
259
CASE II.-E. C-, a female, aged 50 years.
April 7th, 1847.-Eighteen hours ago was knocked down, and in her
fall came in contact with an iron fender, which bruised her frightfully
across the lower part of the back, where she is swollen and tender, and
completely discoloured. One of her legs is also seriously bruised, and
much swollen. The ear which received the blow is considerably
damaged. She is in bed, suffering much pain in all the injured parts,
as well as from general fever, thirst, and headache.
Take Aconite 3d, directly; then Arnica 12th, every four hours; and
moisten the bruise with Arnica Lotion.
8th.-Wonderfully relieved: nearly all soreness gone out of the
bruises, and she is free from fever.
Continue the same treatment.
9th. Still improving. Continue.
10th.
Cured.
Up and about her house. Simply some discoloration,
CASE III.-I. C-, a boy, aged 9 years.
May 13th, 1847.-Fell down yesterday evening whilst at play, and
struck the left eye, violently. The lid is immensely swollen, not only
filling up the socket, but projecting out from the face, in the form of a
large, round tumour. The upper lid hangs down, completely over-
lapping the lower one, and rendering it immpossible to get a sight at
the eye. The whole of this part of the face is deeply discoloured.
Take Arnica 12th, every four hours; and apply Arnica Lotion to
the injured part.
14th. The swelling has almost entirely disappeared: there is only a
little puffiness in the upper lid; the eye is wide open, and fortunately
uninjured.
Continue the Arnica Lotion, a few hours longer. Cured.
CASE IV.-E. H—, aged 50 years.
February 9th, 1847.-Nine days ago jerked his right shoulder joint
violently, and ever since has suffered great pain there, and in the
surrounding parts, but principally in the upper part of the arm. He
has been under medical care ever since; applying leeches, poultices,
lotions, &c.; and taking sleeping draughts to allay pain, but all to very
260
INJURIES.
little effect. He carries his arm in a sling, and cannot bear it to be
moved or touched.
Take Arnica 6th, three times a day; and wet the parts frequently
with Arnica Lotion.
11th. He is already wonderfully better: there is not half so
much pain in the joint; and the swelling has almost entirely sub-
sided.
Continue the same treatment.
13th.-There is no more pain in the injured shoulder than in the
other he can lift his hand to his head, and move the arm freely
in other directions. The swelling around the joint has entirely sub-
sided.
Take Arnica 12th, twice a day.
16th. He is perfectly well.
CASE V.-Mrs. L-, aged 30 years. A stout, plethoric
person.
July 12th, 1848.-Eight hours ago slipped down stairs, and fell on
her left side, striking the ribs with great force. She is now in bed,
suffering intense agony; being unable to breathe, or move without an
intolerable increase of pain. The bruised part is so exquisitely tender
to the touch, as entirely to preclude an examination to ascertain
whether the ribs are fractured.
Take Arnica 3rd, inwardly, every three hours; and apply an
Arnica poultice, outwardly.
13th.-Greatly relieved. Can turn in bed, and bear pressure with-
out inconvenience. The bruised part is still very tender.
health is good.
Continue the treatment.
Her general
14th.-Dressed and sitting up; feeling but slightly the effects of the
fall. Cured.
CASE VI.-Eliza H—, aged 5 years.
August 3d, 1847.-Her wrist was sprained a few hours ago by her
cousin lifting her up suddenly by the hand. The joint is red, inflamed,
swollen, and painful.
Rhus inwardly and outwardly.
4th.—Much better, swelling reduced; less pain.
Continue the treatment. Cured.
INJURIES.
261
These cases will serve to illustrate the action of Arnica
and Rhus, in affections arising from external violence.
Experience has taught me to rely with undoubting confidence
upon the former of these remedies. In cases of broken
ribs, by preventing or subduing inflammation of the lungs
and pleura, it wards off the cough, and so saves the patient
from one of the most distressing symptoms attendant upon
these accidents. In fractures of other bones, as well as in
operations upon the soft parts, its action is scarcely less.
valuable.
Calendula is an exceedingly useful remedy, and is particu-
larly applicable to cuts, lacerations, ulcers, &c., where the use
of Arnica might cause erysipelas.
When these remedies shall come to be fully and generally
appreciated, they will prove the greatest boons ever conferred
upon surgery. At present they are under a cloud-the name
of Homœopathy excludes them from our hospitals. But it
is to be hoped that the day is not far distant when those
prejudices and petty jealousies which now exercise so baneful
an influence over the progress of medicine, will be superseded
by a noble and generous rivalry in the advancement of what-
ever is good. Those who shall then enter a hospital will
not be deprived of the benefit of a valuable remedy, simply
because it happens to be associated with the name of the
ILLUSTRIOUS HAHNEMANN. *
* Within the last two or three years, Arnica, as an external appli-
cation, has come into use in some of the metropolitan hospitals, and
yet Hahnemann continues to be as violently maligned as ever by those
who borrow his discoveries, without having the honesty or courage to
acknowledge the debt.
:
J. E. Adlard, Printer, Bartholomew Close,
EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS OF THE FIRST EDITION
OF THIS VOLUME.
"We are highly pleased with Mr. Yeldham's volume, and consider it
the best that has appeared on Homœopathy for a long time past.".
British Journal of Homeopathy.
"No person who reads the book will put it aside without feeling that
the writer is a sound practitioner, whilst every Homeopathist must hail
it as a valuable accession to that class of writings." — Homœopathic
Times.
"The book is of a thoroughly practical character; and whilst it ex-
poses the errors and difficulties of the old system of medicine, it pre-
sents a lively picture of the advantages and peculiarities of the new.
Liverpool Courier.
وو
Written by an educated and intelligent man, once a stern opponent
of the views he now advocates, but forced by the accumulated results of
a careful examination of the subject to embrace those views.”—Bell's
Weekly Messenger.
Those who are disposed to attach themselves to the new school'
will scarcely find a more able exposition of the system than that con-
tained in Mr. Yeldham's book.-St. James's Chronicle.
CC
Exhibiting a new, and, according to Mr. Yeldham's statement, a
most marvellously successful application of the principles propounded by
Hahnemann in the cure of acute diseases.”—Morning Herald.
CC
· Mr. Yeldham writes earnestly, like a man convinced; simply, so that
even to a rather numerous body, the non-scientific, he is perfectly intel-
2
ligible; and fairly, for he advocates his own peculiar curative principles
without a single scoff at those of others."-Jerrold's Weekly News-
paper.
"The work is, in matter and mode of treatment, a valuable contri-
bution to medical science."-Nonconformist.
“This book is both scientifically interesting and practically useful. It
convincingly proves the truth of the Homoeopathic system of medicine."
-Weekly Times.
“The volume of Mr. Yeldham is the most impressive and satisfactory
that has yet come into our hands."-British Banner.
"A lucid exposition of the application of Homœopathy in the cure of
acute diseases."-Oxford Herald.
"Mr. Yeldham's book is incomparably the boldest challenge which
the press of this country has ever conveyed to the impugners of Homœo-
pathy.”—Sunday Times.
"Many professors of the Old System are constantly forsaking it for
the New. Mr. Yeldham is one of the most recent converts to the New
System, and judging from the work before us, one of the most talented.
His book contains a vast number of facts, all of which have come under
his own knowledge. They are lucidly arranged, and free from those
professional technicalities by which medical works are generally dis-
figured."-Liverpool Albion.
Mr. Yeldham writes with energy. We have read his book with
pleasure, and lay it down with a feeling of respect for the author. He
does not indulge in personalities, nor seek to entertain his readers by
references to professional squabbles. He deals largely with facts, each
of the treatises on disease being illustrated by the history of various
cases which have come under this treatment. To facts and principles
the Homœopathic authors constantly refer their readers, and we know
no higher and firmer ground on which doctrine could be based."-
Morning Post.

Filmed by Prosenvation 1991
OCT - 5 2005
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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